Organized Opticianry: Lawsuit Against The ABO!!

By Thomas Blair Jr, LDO ABOM
Chairman, OAA Legislative Committee

A recent and heralded development in the optometric profession might be considered useful guidance toward efforts to expand scope of practice issues in
organized Opticianry. In quick summary, a lawsuit was brought against the ABO
(American Board of Optometry) regarding the ABO’s staunch advocacy of board
certification exams for optometrists.



The lawsuit was filed by an opposing organization named the AOS (American Optometric Society) whose position was the ABO’s certification policies were an infringement on all optometrists’ right to practice without board certification. After the obligatory legal posturing of the plaintiff (AOS) vs. the defendant (ABO), a federal district court judge ruled in favor of the defendants the ABO.

What the federal court’s ruling reaffirmed is the ABO’s right to self-determination
- thru a voluntary board certification process - to expand optometry’s scope of
practice initiatives as these matters develop.

The court’s reaffirmation of the ABO’s authority to set the necessary knowledge
and performance i.e., quality control standards regarding optometric scope of
practice issues, now directly parallels - as an evidentiary reference - ongoing
professional concerns within the opticianry scope of practice.

The guidance provided by this far reaching court decision, clearly permits
Opticianry leadership - both administrative and educational - to set declared
standards within a framework oriented toward uniform minimum competency
outcomes thru a prescribed format.

In plainer language the court’s decision made it clear a profession has the right - thru duly appointed or elected leadership - to chart its destiny thru prescribed standards.

In the wake of this landmark decision, Opticianry’s challenge going forward is to
use this power….or lose it. It should go without saying; change happens with the
speed of thought.

TBJr/Fall 2012