Section 172-120-006 - UNPROFESSIONAL CONDUCTUnprofessional Conduct: Unprofessional conduct is set out in Neb. Rev. Stat. § 38-179, and this chapter :
(A) Making a false or misleading statement regarding his/her skill as an optometrist or the efficacy or value of the medicine, device, treatment, or remedy prescribed by him/her or used at his/her direction in the practice of optometry;(B) Prescribing, selling, administering, or distributing, any drug legally classified as a prescription drug, other than with proper certification ;(C) Knowingly giving to a n addict any drug legally classified as a controlled substance or recognized as an addictive or dangerous drug;(D) Failure to furnish the Department , its investigators or representatives, information requested by the Department ; Neb. Rev. Stat. (E) To advertise in a manner that deceives, misleads, or defrauds the public. The following advertising practices will be considered to be deceptive: (i) To advertise or promote any optometric service as free or below the advertiser's or promoter's own cost without revealing in the advertising or promotion the minimum expenditure the consumer must incur in order to receive the service. If the consumer need not incur any expense to obtain the service, then the advertising or promotion must state that there is no minimum purchase required;(ii) To fail to advertise the names of all licensed optometrists who are providing optometric service who are addressed by the advertisement; and(iii) i To advertise or promote any optometric service with statements that cannot be verified, substantiated or measured .(F) Failure of a licensed optometrist who administers or prescribes pharmaceutical agents for examination or for treatment to provide the same standard of care to patients as that provided by a physician licensed in this state to practice medicine and surgery utilizing the same pharmaceutical agents for examination or treatment ;(G) Any departure from or failure to conform to the ethics of the optometric profession, which ethics are found in the American Optometric Association's An Optometrist's Guide to Clinical Ethics;(H) Misrepresenting one's credentials in an application submitted to a healthcare facility, insurance company, or prospective employer; (I) Providing treatment or consultation recommendations via electronic or other means, including issuing a prescription, unless the optometrist has obtained a history and evaluation of the patient adequate to establish diagnosis and identify underlying conditions and contraindications to the treatment recommended or provided and that arrangements exist to insure availability of the optometrist or optometrist coverage for follow-up patient care .172 Neb. Admin. Code, ch. 120, § 006
Amended effective 3/21/2022