Wyo. Code R. 056-0001-7
Optometry, Board of Examiners in
Chapter 7: Process and Procedure for Application, Licensure, and Discipline Matters
Effective Date: 04/09/2018 to 11/08/2021
Rule Type: Superceded Rules & Regulations
Reference Number: 056.0001.7.04092018
Section 1. Statement of Purpose. These Board Rules are adopted to implement the Board's authority to:
Section 2. Grounds for Disciplinary Action. The Board may take disciplinary action or refuse to issue or renew a license for one (1) or more of the following acts or conduct:
(ix) Accepting remuneration for professional services if a volunteer certificate holder.
(b) A conviction involving moral turpitude, including:
(i) A felony or misdemeanor involving a patient or adversely relating to the practice of optometry. A plea of nolo contendere shall be considered a conviction;
(ii) Violating professional boundaries by soliciting, encouraging, threatening, forcing, or engaging in any sexual act or relationship with or upon a patient, regardless of consent. A consensual sexual relationship shall not be deemed moral turpitude if the optometrist-patient relationship was terminated prior to the relationship;
(iii) Sexual harassment of a patient or staff member;
(c) Habitual intemperance or being habitually addicted includes the use of any drug, narcotic, chemical, alcohol or mind altering material that renders the licensee unfit or incompetent to:
(i) Practice optometry with reasonable skill and safety to patients; or
(ii) Conform to essential standards of acceptable optometry practice, in which case actual injury need not be established.
(d) Incompetence, malpractice, or unethical conduct includes:
(i) Practicing in a manner that is not in the best interest of the public and endangers public health, safety, and welfare;
(ii) Practicing optometry:
(A) In violation of any limitations or restrictions imposed on a license, or practicing optometry while a license is suspended or has expired;
(B) With a mental or physical impairment which renders the licensee incapable of practicing optometry with reasonable skill and safety; or
(iii) Performing any procedure in the course of a patient’s care, which:
(A) Is beyond the licensee’s training and competence;
(B) Deviates from the customary and accepted standard of care in the profession;
(iv) Failing to:
(A) Advise a patient to seek the attention of a physician or other health care provider for an eye disease or disorder discovered during an examination which, in the opinion of the licensee, requires additional diagnosis and medical treatment. Such advice shall not be required for any previously diagnosed disease or disorder;
(B) Provide patients with accurate and complete information regarding the extent and nature of services available to them;
(C) Maintain confidentiality of all information obtained in the course of the optometrist-patient relationship, except that disclosure of confidential information is permissible with the expressed written consent of the patient, or as required by law;
(D) Maintain the confidentiality of any examination related to obtaining a license to practice optometry;
(E) Ensure that a patient’s welfare is not compromised in any experimentation or research involving that patient;
(F) Obtain informed written consent from the patient for any experimentation or research;
(G) Obtain approval from any regulatory entity, in which approval is customarily or lawfully required, in order to conduct experimentation or research;
(H) Comply with any regulatory standards customarily or lawfully required for the continuation of experimentation or research;
(I) Release a spectacle lens prescription to the patient in accordance with federal law;
(J) Release a contact lens prescription to the patient in accordance with federal law without all of the following information: expiration date, wearing schedule, care regimen, and all necessary parameters essential to fabricating a contact lens;
(v) Billing patients for services provided which are not justified and are not necessary for diagnostic or therapeutic purposes;
(vi) Administering, dispensing, or prescribing any controlled substance other than in the course of legitimate professional practice as authorized by law;
(vii) Knowingly making any false or fraudulent statement, written or oral, in connection with the practice of optometry, including falsifying entries on patient records;
(viii) Representing that a non-correctable condition can be permanently corrected;
(ix) Interfering with the free choice of any patient when selecting a physician or other health care practitioner; and
(x) Incurring any judgment against the licensee for malpractice or negligence.
(e) Unprofessional and dishonest conduct includes:
(i) Advertising professional services through statements that are untruthful, improbable, misleading, or impossible;
(ii) Announcing services available in the licensee's practice that expresses or implies specialization;
(iii) Failing to display a license at all times in a conspicuous and readily accessible location to all patients at the optometrist's place of business;
(iv) Failing to comply with reasonable requests from the Board including, but not limited to:
(A) Answering an administrative complaint;
(B) Responding to a request for explanation for failure to disclose required information; or
(C) Cooperating in an investigation;
(v) Failure to comply with a term, condition or obligation of a Board order; or
(vi) Failure to appropriately supervise.
(a) Application Review and Investigation. In application matters:
(i) Every applicant bears the burden of satisfying license requirements; and
(ii) Every application for licensure issued by the Board shall be subject to investigation to determine whether the requirements set forth in the Act and Board Rules are satisfied.
(b) ARC Action. Following investigation, the ARC may recommend:
(i) A license be issued, renewed, relicensed, or reinstated;
(ii) A license be issued, renewed, relicensed, or reinstated subject to conditions, restrictions, or other disciplinary action;
(iii) Approval of a settlement agreement, which may include the issuance, renewal, relicensure, or reinstatement of a license with the imposition of a reprimand, conditions, restrictions, suspension, other discipline or a combination thereof; or
(iv) Denial of the application.
(c) Notice of Intent to Recommend Approval Subject to Conditions, Restrictions, Other Disciplinary Action, or Denial of License.
(i) The ARC shall notify the applicant of its intent to recommend:
(A) Approval of the license subject to conditions, restrictions, or other disciplinary action; or
(B) Denial of the application.
(ii) The Notice of Intent shall contain:
(A) A brief description of the facts or conduct that warrant the issuance or denial of a license subject to conditions, restrictions, or other disciplinary action;
(B) A statement of the nature of the actions that warrant the issuance or denial of a license subject to conditions, restrictions, or other disciplinary action and a citation to the applicable statutory provisions in the Act or the Board Rules; and
(C) Notice of the right to a hearing if a written request is received by the Board Office within thirty (30) days of the date of mailing the Notice of Intent.
(d) Applicant’s Request for Hearing.
(i) The applicant may request a hearing if the ARC recommends:
(A) Approval of the license subject to conditions, restrictions, or other disciplinary action; or
(B) Denial of the application.
(ii) The applicant shall submit a written request for hearing to the Board Office within thirty (30) days of the date of the Notice of Intent.
(iii) Failure of the applicant to pursue proceedings related to the application after requesting a hearing may result in dismissal.
(i) Complaints shall be submitted to the Board upon the form provided by the Board and contain the name, address, and signature of the person making the complaint. The Board may initiate complaints.
(ii) Complaints shall be investigated by the IC or the Board staff.
(iii) The IC may meet informally with the licensee.
(b) Voluntary Surrender. A licensee may petition the Board in writing to voluntarily surrender their license. The Board shall hold an expedited hearing at its earliest convenience. The Board may accept or reject the petition for voluntary surrender.
(i) Dismissal of the complaint;
(ii) Issuance of an advisory letter;
(iii) Approval of a settlement agreement, which may include a reprimand, conditions, restrictions, non-renewal, suspension, voluntary surrender, other discipline or a combination thereof;
(iv) Disciplinary action which may include a reprimand, conditions, restrictions, non-renewal, suspension, revocation, other discipline or a combination thereof; or
(v) Summary suspension.
(a) Recommendation. If the IC recommends summary suspension, the Board shall conduct an expedited hearing to determine whether the licensee's continued practice presents a clear and imminent danger to public health, safety or welfare.
(i) The IC shall notify the licensee of its intent to recommend summary suspension.
(ii) The Notice of Intent shall contain:
(A) Copy of the complaint;
(B) Notice that a summary suspension proceeding shall be set for expedited proceeding at the earliest opportunity a quorum of Board members may be assembled; and
(c) Notice of Expedited Proceeding. Upon confirmation of the date and time of the expedited proceeding, the IC shall notify the licensee of the date and time of the proceeding.
(a) Notice of Intent to Recommend Disciplinary Action.
(i) The IC shall notify the licensee of its intent to recommend disciplinary action.
(ii) The Notice of Intent shall:
(A) Include a brief description of the facts or conduct which warrant the intended action; and
(B) Provide the licensee an opportunity to show compliance or respond to allegations for disciplinary action within fifteen (15) days of the date of the mailing.
(b) Informal Conference. The licensee may request an informal conference to provide any additional information or to resolve an administrative complaint without a hearing.
Section 7. Petition. The IC shall initiate formal proceedings for disciplinary action by serving a Petition to the last known address of the licensee by certified mail, by regular mail, by electronic mail to the e-mail address indicated to be the preferred method of communication, or by personal service at least thirty (30) days prior to the date set for hearing.
(a) Hearing. Upon receipt of a written request for hearing from an applicant or commencement of formal proceedings for disciplinary action against a licensee, the Board shall conduct a hearing. The Board shall serve a Notice of Hearing on the applicant or licensee.
(b) Notice of Hearing. The Notice of Hearing shall contain:
(i) The name and last known address of the applicant or licensee;
(ii) A brief statement of the matters asserted relating to:
(A) The recommendation to deny the application, the facts upon which the recommendation to deny is based, the statutory provisions and/or the Board Rules the applicant is alleged to have violated; or (B) The nature of the Petition, the facts upon which the Petition is based, the statutory provisions and/or the Board Rules the licensee is alleged to have violated;
(iii) The time, place, and nature of the hearing;
(iv) The legal authority and jurisdiction; and
(v) A statement indicating:
(A) The applicant’s failure to appear at the hearing or pursue proceedings may result in a dismissal; or
(B) The licensee’s failure to answer the allegations contained in the Petition within twenty (20) days of the date of mailing and failure to appear at a noticed hearing may result in a default judgment.
Section 9. Lawful Service. There shall be a presumption of lawful service of a Notice of Intent, Petition, and Notice of Hearing or any other communication required by these Board Rules if sent to the last known address of the applicant or licensee by certified mail, by regular mail, by electronic mail to the e-mail address indicated to be the preferred method of communication, or by personal service.
(a) Dismissal. The Board may enter an order of dismissal based on the allegations contained in the recommendation to deny in any case where the applicant or the applicant’s representative has not appeared at a noticed hearing.
(b) Default. The Board may enter an order of default judgment based on the allegations contained in the Petition in any case where the licensee or the licensee’s representative has not answered the allegations contained in the Petition and has not appeared at a noticed hearing.
Section 11. Contested Case Hearing. The hearing officer shall preside over the contested case hearing which shall be conducted pursuant to the WAPA and the Office of Administrative Hearings rules concerning contested case proceedings incorporated by reference in Chapter 1.
(a) Application/Licensure Matters. The applicant shall bear the burden to prove by a preponderance of evidence that they meet the qualifications for licensure. The burden shall shift to the ARC or IC to prove by clear and convincing evidence that the applicant should be denied a license. The burden shall shift to the applicant to persuade the Board that the ARC or IC’s grounds for denial are insufficient.
(b) Discipline Matters. The IC shall bear the burden to prove by clear and convincing evidence that a licensee violated the Act or the Board’s Rules.
(a) Board Action. The Board may resolve an application matter, complaint or Petition by:
(i) Approving the recommendations of the ARC or IC; or
(ii) Conducting a contested case hearing. Following the hearing and deliberation of all evidence admitted at a contested case hearing, the Board may:
(A) Issue, renew, relicense, or reinstate a license;
(B) Issue, renew, relicense, or reinstate a license with conditions, restrictions, or other disciplinary action;
(C) Deny a license;
(D) Dismiss the Petition due to lack of clear and convincing evidence;
(E) Issue a notice of warning; or
(F) Impose a reprimand, conditions, restrictions, suspension, revocation, other discipline or a combination thereof.
(b) Board Order. The Board shall issue a written decision which shall be sent to the applicant, licensee, or their representative.
(a) Appeals from Board decisions are governed by the WAPA and Wyoming Rules of Appellate Procedure.
(b) Costs of transcripts and any reasonable costs assessed by the Board regarding the record on appeal shall be borne by the party making the appeal.