VIEWPOINT | No compromises for eye surgery

Guest column by Dr. Mike Eide

Nobody likes having surgery. It’s uncomfortable. Scary. Helpless. But when you face a complicated procedure, you turn to surgeons – medical doctors trained un a specialized field – because they’re trusted and have endured rigorous training that provides the best care when you need it. This is especially true with your eyes.

In Pierre this week, though, legislators on the House Health and Human Services Committee will consider a bill proposed by special interests that would dilute the qualifications needed to operate on your eye. If this short-cut legislation is approved, optometrists – who are not medical doctors or trained surgeons and lack proper medical and surgical training – would be granted permission to perform delicate eye surgeries with insufficient training.

Ophthalmologists and optometrists both play critical roles in a patient’s eye care. Optometrists provide basic care through year-to-year check-ups, diagnose proper prescriptive lenses, and treat certain eye diseases. They play a valuable role in their communities. But they are not medical doctors or surgeons. Their “surgical training” consists of a 32-hour course containing lectures and practice on non-human models. In fact, 22 of the nation’s 24 optometry schools are in states whose surgical safety laws rightfully prohibit optometrists from performing laser eye surgery.