Antitrust Law Daily Wrap Up, ANTITRUST NEWS: FTC staff, Antitrust Division support expansion of glaucoma treatment options in Massachusetts, (Feb 18, 2016)

By Greg Hammond, J.D.

Staffs from the FTC’s Office of Policy Planning, Bureau of Competition, and Bureau of Economics and the Justice Department Antitrust Division have submitted a joint statement, encouraging the Massachusetts legislature to consider expanding treatment options for glaucoma patients. The letter responds to a request by Massachusetts State Representative Bradley H. Jones for the agencies’ views on the possible competitive impact of Massachusetts House Bill 1973 (HB 1973), which would allow optometrists in Massachusetts to treat glaucoma and other optical diseases.

Massachusetts does not currently permit optometrists to treat glaucoma patients, according to the letter. However, all other states allow optometrists to provide some aspects of glaucoma care, such as pharmaceutical treatment.

HB 1973, if signed into law, would allow “registered optometrists” in Massachusetts to “utilize and prescribe topical and oral therapeutic pharmaceutical agents” to diagnose, prevent, correct, manage or treat the disease. The bill also imposes educational and reporting requirements on optometrists, including requirements that: (1) optometrists take an examination designed to test the qualifications necessary to safely utilize and prescribe pharmaceutical agents, including those used in the treatment of glaucoma; (2) optometrists complete three hours of continuing education specific to glaucoma as a condition for license renewal; and (3) optometrists and insurers or risk management organizations that provide coverage to optometrists participate in federal and state reporting and data collection efforts on patient safety and error reduction.

The FTC staffs and the Antitrust Division recommend that the state legislature consider the potential benefits of enhanced competition among glaucoma care providers that could be facilitated by the bill and maintain only those scope of practice limitations necessary to ensure patient health and safety.

Increased competition among providers of glaucoma care, according to the letter, could help alleviate two important barriers to glaucoma care—access and cost. In particular, optometrists tend to be more convenient to see than ophthalmologists and allowing optometrists to deliver glaucoma care at a level commensurate with their training could help to ensure that more patients have access to affordable providers, the letter states. Consequently, the FTC staffs and Antitrust Division encourages the Massachusetts legislature to consider whether a continued prohibition of optometric treatment of glaucoma is warranted.

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