BILL NUMBER: AB 684 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 30, 2015
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MAY 11, 2015
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 30, 2015
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 23, 2015
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Members Alejo and Bonilla
FEBRUARY 25, 2015
An act to amend Section 3137 of, and to add and repeal
Sections 655.1 and 2556.1 of of, the
Business and Professions Code, relating to healing arts, and
declaring the urgency thereof, to take effect immediately.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 684, as amended, Alejo. Healing arts: licensees: disciplinary
actions.
Existing law prohibits a licensed optometrist and a registered
dispensing optician from having any membership, proprietary interest,
coownership, landlord-tenant relationship, or any profit-sharing
arrangement in any form, directly or indirectly, with each other.
Existing law prohibits a licensed optometrist from having any
membership, proprietary interest, coownership, landlord-tenant
relationship, or any profit-sharing arrangement in any form, directly
or indirectly, either by stock ownership, interlocking directors,
trusteeship, mortgage, trust deed, or otherwise with any person who
is engaged in the manufacture, sale, or distribution to physicians
and surgeons, optometrists, or dispensing opticians of lenses,
frames, optical supplies, optometric appliances or devices or kindred
products. Existing law makes a violation of these provisions by a
licensed optometrist and any other persons, whether or not a healing
arts licensee, who participates with a licensed optometrist subject
to a crime.
Under existing law, the Medical Board of California is
responsible for the registration and regulation of dispensing
opticians. Existing law makes the State Board of Optometry
responsible for the licensure of optometrists.
This bill, until January 1, 2017, would prohibit a
registered dispensing optician or optometrist exempt a
licensed optometrist or an individual, corporation, or firm
operating as a registered dispensing optician licensed or registered
before the effective date of the bill, or an employee of such an
entity, from being subject to discipline
any action by the Medical Board of California, the State
Board of Optometry, or other another
state agency agency, or a district attorney
with enforcement authority for engaging in any of the
aforementioned business relationships. The bill, with respect to
an action subject to the exemption, would toll, for the effective
period of the exemption, specific limitation periods imposed on the
filing of accusations.
Existing law makes it unlawful to, among other things, advertise
the furnishing of, or to furnish, the services of a refractionist, an
optometrist, or a physician and surgeon, or to directly or
indirectly employ or maintain on or near the premises used for
optical dispensing, a refractionist, an optometrist, a physician and
surgeon, or a practitioner of any other profession for the purpose of
any examination or treatment of the eyes.
This bill, until January 1, 2017, would prohibit a
an individual, corporation, or firm operating as a
registered dispensing optician before the effective date
of the bill, or an employee of such an entity, from being
subject to discipline any action for
engaging in that aforementioned conduct.
This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as
an urgency statute.
Vote: 2/3. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 655.1 is added to the Business and Professions
Code, to read:
655.1. (a) Notwithstanding any other law, no individual,
corporation, or firm operating as a registered dispensing
optician registered pursuant to Chapter 5.5
(commencing with Section 2550) before the effective date of this
section, or an employee of such an entity, or an
optometrist licensed pursuant to Chapter 7 (commencing with Section
3000) before the effective date of this section, shall be
subject to discipline any action by the
Medical Board of California, the State Board of Optometry,
or other another state agency
agency, or a district attorney, with enforcement
authority for engaging in any business relationship prohibited by
Section 655.
(b) Nothing in this section shall be construed to imply or suggest
that a registered dispensing optician or optometrist engaging in any
business relationship is in violation of or in compliance with the
law.
(c) This section shall not apply to any business relationships
prohibited by Section 655 registered and operating on or after the
effective date of this section.
(d) Nothing in this section shall prohibit an individual,
corporation, or firm operating as a registered dispensing optician
from engaging in a business relationship with an optometrist licensed
pursuant to Chapter 7 (commencing with Section 3000) before the
effective date of this section at locations registered with the
Medical Board of California before the effective date of this
section.
(c)
(e) This section shall remain in effect only until
January 1, 2017, and as of that date is repealed, unless a later
enacted statute, that is enacted before January 1, 2017, deletes or
extends that date.
SEC. 2. Section 2556.1 is added to the Business and Professions
Code, to read:
2556.1. (a) Notwithstanding any other law, a person
registered any individual, corporation, or firm
operating as a registered dispensing optician under this
chapter before the effective date of this section, or an
employee of such an entity, shall not be subject to
discipline any action for engaging in conduct
prohibited by Section 2556, except that a registrant shall be subject
to discipline for duplicating or changing lenses without a
prescription or order from a person duly licensed to issue the same.
(b) Nothing in this section shall be construed to imply or suggest
that a person registered under this chapter is in violation of or in
compliance with the law.
(c) This section shall not apply to any business relationships
prohibited by Section 2556 registered and operating on or after the
effective date of this section.
(d) Nothing in this section shall prohibit an individual,
corporation, or firm operating as a registered dispensing optician
from engaging in a business relationship with an optometrist licensed
pursuant to Chapter 7 (commencing with Section 3000) before the
effective date of this section at locations registered with the
Medical Board of California before the effective date of this
section.
(c)
(e) This section shall remain in effect only until
January 1, 2017, and as of that date is repealed, unless a later
enacted statute, that is enacted before January 1, 2017, deletes or
extends that date.
SEC. 3. Section 3137 of the Business
and Professions Code is amended to read:
3137. (a) Except as otherwise provided in this section, any
accusation filed against a licensee pursuant to Section 11503 of the
Government Code for the violation of any provision of this chapter
shall be filed within three years after the board discovers the act
or omission alleged as the ground for disciplinary action, or within
seven years after the act or omission alleged as the ground for
disciplinary action occurs, whichever occurs first.
(b) An accusation filed against a licensee pursuant to Section
11503 of the Government Code alleging fraud or willful
misrepresentation is not subject to the limitation in subdivision
(a).
(c) An accusation filed against a licensee pursuant to Section
11503 of the Government Code alleging unprofessional conduct based on
incompetence, gross negligence, or repeated negligent acts of the
licensee is not subject to the limitation in subdivision (a) upon
proof that the licensee intentionally concealed from discovery his or
her incompetence, gross negligence, or repeated negligent acts.
(d) If an alleged act or omission involves any conduct described
in Section 726 committed on a minor, the 10-year limitations period
in subdivision (e) shall be tolled until the minor reaches the age of
majority.
(e) An accusation filed against a licensee pursuant to Section
11503 of the Government Code alleging conduct described in Section
726 shall be filed within three years after the board discovers the
act or omission alleged as the ground for disciplinary action, or
within 10 years after the act or omission alleged as the ground for
disciplinary action occurs, whichever occurs first. This subdivision
shall apply to a complaint alleging conduct received by the board on
and after January 1, 2006.
(f) In any allegation, accusation, or proceeding described in this
section, the limitations period in subdivision (a) shall be tolled
for the period during which material evidence necessary for
prosecuting or determining whether a disciplinary action would be
appropriate is unavailable to the board due to an ongoing criminal
investigation.
(g) In any allegation, accusation, or proceeding described in this
section regarding a violation of Section 655 and subject to Section
655.1, the limitations period in subdivision (a) shall be tolled
during the effective period of Section 655.1.
SEC. 3. SEC. 4. This act is an
urgency statute necessary for the immediate preservation of the
public peace, health, or safety within the meaning of Article IV of
the Constitution and shall go into immediate effect. The facts
constituting the necessity are:
In order to protect various businesses, opticians, and
optometrists who engage in a business relationship that is prohibited
by Section 655 or 2556 of the Business and Professions Code from
discipline by the Medical Board of California, the State Board of
Optometry, or other state agency with enforcement authority while the
Legislature, with the assistance of appropriate regulatory agencies,
develops a model that will allow California businesses to provide
services to patients and also protect the interests of practitioners,
it is necessary that this act take effect immediately.