LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) – Arkansas officials on Friday approved thousands of signatures submitted for a referendum on a law expanding the procedures
optometrists can perform.
Secretary of State John Thurston told representatives of the referendum
campaign they had submitted 64,027 valid signatures, surpassing the 53,491
required to qualify for the November ballot.
The referendum asks voters to overturn a law allowing optometrists to perform several procedures that previously only ophthalmologists could perform, including injections around the eye, the removal of lesions from the eyelids and certain laser eye surgeries. The law’s supporters say optometrists are already trained to perform the procedures but were being forced to refer patients elsewhere. It has drawn heavy opposition from ophthalmologists who say the change puts patients at risk.
Thurston approved the measure after the state Supreme Court in December ordered his office to review thousands of signatures submitted. A Pulaski County judge on Tuesday dismissed a lawsuit by the referendum’s opponents seeking to keep it off the ballot.
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