Administrative Rules of Montana › Department 24 - LABOR AND INDUSTRY › Chapter 24.168 - BOARD OF OPTOMETRY › Subchapter 24.168.23 - Unprofessional Conduct › Rule 24.168.2301 - UNPROFESSIONAL CONDUCT

Current through Register Vol. 13, July 5, 2024
(1) It is
				unprofessional conduct for a licensee or applicant to violate any statute,
				rule, or standard of care governing their scope of practice, or exceeding the
				scope of practice for which they are licensed, trained, and educated to
				perform. The following additionally constitutes unprofessional conduct by
				licensees or license applicants:
(a)
				commission of any act of sexual abuse, misconduct, or exploitation whether or
				not it is related to the licensee's practice of optometry;
(b) allowing one's professional conduct or
				judgment in the practice of optometry to be directed, managed, or controlled by
				a person who is not an optometrist or a medical doctor in Montana;
(c) prescribing, selling, administering,
				distributing, or giving any drug legally classified as a controlled substance
				or as an addictive or dangerous drug for other than accepted diagnostic or
				therapeutic purposes or to oneself or a family member;
(d) violating any state or federal law or
				regulation relating to a drug legally classified as a controlled
				substance;
(e) obtaining any fee by
				fraud, deceit, or misrepresentation;
(f) sanctions or disciplinary actions taken
				by a peer review body, a hospital or other health care institution, or a
				professional association or society for acts or conduct similar to acts or
				conduct that would constitute grounds for action as defined in Title 37,
				chapters 1 and 10, MCA, and administrative rules promulgated
				thereunder;
(g) surrender of a
				license or authorization to practice optometry in another state or
				jurisdiction, or surrender of membership on any staff or in any professional
				association or society while under disciplinary investigation by any of those
				authorities or bodies for acts or conduct similar to acts or conduct that would
				constitute grounds for action as defined in Title 37, chapters 1 and 10, MCA,
				and administrative rules promulgated thereunder;
(h) failure to respond to board inquiry or
				furnish information requested by the board, department investigators, or board
				representatives;
(i) violation of
				any provision(s) of Title 37, chapter 10, MCA, or the rules and regulations of
				the board or of an action, stipulation, or agreement of the board;
(j) the designation of any person licensed
				under Title 37, chapter 10, MCA, other than by the terms "Optometrist," "Doctor
				of Optometry," or "O.D.";
(k)
				selling or offering to sell any eyeglasses or lenses for the correction of
				refractive error, except for over-the-counter readers between the powers of
				+.75 dioptors to +5.50 dioptors, except on prescription of a licensed
				optometrist or licensed physician;
(l) providing ophthalmic lenses and materials
				that do not meet federally established impact resistance standards;
(m) persistently maintaining, in the practice
				of optometry, unsanitary offices, practices, or techniques; or
(n) failing to maintain or permit patient
				access to accurate patient records for at least five years from the last time
				the patient was treated.