Amended in Assembly April 23, 2015

California Legislature—2015–16 Regular Session

Assembly BillNo. 684


Introduced by Assembly Member Bonilla

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(Coauthor: Assembly Member Alejo)

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February 25, 2015


begin delete An act to amend Section 4200.3 of the Business and Professions Code, relating to healing arts. end deletebegin insertAn act to add and repeal Sections 655.1 and 2556.1 of the Business and Professions Code, relating to healing arts.end insert

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AB 684, as amended, Bonilla. begin deletePharmacy. end deletebegin insertHealing arts: licensees: disciplinary actions.end insert

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Existing law prohibits a licensed optometrist and a registered dispensing optician from having any membership, proprietary interest, coownership, landlord-tenant relationship, or any profit-sharing arrangement in any form, directly or indirectly, with each other. Existing law prohibits a licensed optometrist from having any membership, proprietary interest, coownership, landlord-tenant relationship, or any profit-sharing arrangement in any form, directly or indirectly, either by stock ownership, interlocking directors, trusteeship, mortgage, trust deed, or otherwise with any person who is engaged in the manufacture, sale, or distribution to physicians and surgeons, optometrists, or dispensing opticians of lenses, frames, optical supplies, optometric appliances or devices or kindred products. Existing law makes a violation of these provisions by a licensed optometrist and any other persons, whether or not a healing arts licensee, who participates with a licensed optometrist subject to a crime.

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Under existing law, the Medical Board of California is responsible for the registration and regulation of dispensing opticians. Existing law makes the State Board of Optometry responsible for the licensure of optometrists.

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This bill, until January 1, 2017, would prohibit a registered dispensing optician or optometrist from being subject to discipline by the Medical Board of California, the State Board of Optometry, or other state agency with enforcement authority for engaging in any of the aforementioned business relationships.

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Existing law makes it unlawful to, among other things, advertise the furnishing of, or to furnish, the services of a refractionist, an optometrist, or a physician and surgeon, or to directly or indirectly employ or maintain on or near the premises used for optical dispensing, a refractionist, an optometrist, a physician and surgeon, or a practitioner of any other profession for the purpose of any examination or treatment of the eyes.

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This bill, until January 1, 2017, would prohibit a registered dispensing optician from being subject to discipline for engaging in that aforementioned conduct.

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Existing law, the Pharmacy Law, provides for the licensure and regulation of pharmacists by the California State Board of Pharmacy within the Department of Consumer Affairs. Existing law authorizes the board to license as a pharmacist an applicant who meets specified requirements, including passage of the North American Pharmacist Licensure Examination. Existing law requires the examination process to meet specified standards and federal guidelines and requires the board to terminate use of that examination if the department determines that the examination fails to meet those standards. Existing law requires the board to report to the now obsolete Joint Committee on Boards, Commissions, and Consumer Protection and the department specified examination pass rate information.

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This bill would instead require the board to report that pass rate information to the appropriate policy committees of the Legislature and the department. The bill would also make nonsubstantive changes to those provisions.

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Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: no.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

P3    1begin insert

begin insertSECTION 1.end insert  

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begin insertSection 655.1 is added to the end insertbegin insertBusiness and
2Professions Code
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begin insert, to read:end insert

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3

begin insert655.1.end insert  

(a) Notwithstanding any other law and on and after
4January 1, 2016, no dispensing optician registered pursuant to
5Chapter 5.5 (commencing with Section 2550) or optometrist
6licensed pursuant to Chapter 7 (commencing with Section 3000)
7shall be subject to discipline by the Medical Board of California,
8the State Board of Optometry, or other state agency with
9enforcement authority for engaging in any business relationship
10prohibited by Section 655.

11(b) Nothing in this section shall be construed to imply or suggest
12that a registered dispensing optician or optometrist engaging in
13any business relationship is in violation of or in compliance with
14the law.

15(c) This section shall remain in effect only until January 1, 2017,
16and as of that date is repealed, unless a later enacted statute, that
17is enacted before January 1, 2017, deletes or extends that date.

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begin insertSEC. 2.end insert  

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begin insertSection 2556.1 is added to the end insertbegin insertBusiness and Professions
19Code
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begin insert, to read:end insert

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20

begin insert2556.1.end insert  

(a) Notwithstanding any other law and on and after
21January 1, 2016, a person registered under this chapter shall not
22be subject to discipline for engaging in conduct prohibited by
23Section 2556, except that, a registrant shall be subject to discipline
24for duplicating or changing lenses without a prescription or order
25from a person duly licensed to issue the same.

26(b) Nothing in this section shall be construed to imply or suggest
27that a person registered under this chapter is in violation of or in
28compliance with the law.

29(c) This section shall remain in effect only until January 1, 2017,
30and as of that date is repealed, unless a later enacted statute, that
31is enacted before January 1, 2017, deletes or extends that date.

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32

SECTION 1.  

Section 4200.3 of the Business and Professions
33Code
is amended to read:

34

4200.3.  

(a) The examination process shall be regularly
35reviewed pursuant to Section 139.

36(b) The examination process shall meet the standards and
37guidelines set forth in the Standards for Educational and
38Psychological Testing and the federal Uniform Guidelines on
P4    1Employee Selection Procedures. The board shall work with the
2Office of Professional Examination Services of the department or
3with an equivalent organization who shall certify at minimum once
4every five years that the examination process meets these national
5testing standards. If the department determines that the examination
6process fails to meet these standards, the board shall terminate its
7use of the North American Pharmacist Licensure Examination and
8shall use only the written and practical examination developed by
9the board.

10(c) The examination shall meet the mandates of subdivision (a)
11of Section 12944 of the Government Code.

12(d) The board shall work with the Office of Professional
13Examination Services or with an equivalent organization to develop
14the state jurisprudence examination to ensure that applicants for
15licensure are evaluated on their knowledge of applicable state laws
16and regulations.

17(e) The board shall annually publish the pass and fail rates for
18the pharmacist’s licensure examination administered pursuant to
19Section 4200, including a comparison of historical pass and fail
20rates before utilization of the North American Pharmacist Licensure
21Examination.

22(f) (1) The board shall report to the appropriate policy
23committees of the Legislature and the department as part of its
24next scheduled review, the pass rates of applicants who sat for the
25national examination compared with the pass rates of applicants
26who sat for the prior state examination. This report shall be a
27component of the evaluation of the examination process that is
28based on psychometrically sound principles for establishing
29minimum qualifications and levels of competency.

30(2) This subdivision shall become inoperative on January 1,
312020, pursuant to Section 10231.5 of the Government Code.

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