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Virginia Administrative Code
Title 18. Professional And Occupational Licensing
Agency 105. Board of Optometry
Chapter 20. Regulations Governing the Practice of Optometry
12/31/2024

18VAC105-20-48. Prescribing an opioid for acute pain.

A. Nonpharmacologic and non-opioid treatment for pain shall be given consideration prior to treatment with opioids. If an opioid is considered necessary for the treatment of acute pain, a TPA-certified optometrist shall follow the regulations for prescribing and treating with opioids.

B. Prior to initiating treatment with a controlled substance containing an opioid for a complaint of acute pain, a TPA-certified optometrist shall perform a health history and physical examination appropriate to the complaint, query the Prescription Monitoring Program as set forth in § 54.1-2522.1 of the Code of Virginia, and conduct an assessment of the patient's history and risk of substance abuse.

C. Initiation of opioid treatment for all patients with acute pain shall include the following:

1. A prescription for an opioid shall be a short-acting opioid in the lowest effective dose for the fewest number of days, not to exceed seven days as determined by the manufacturer's directions for use, unless extenuating circumstances are clearly documented in the patient record.

2. A TPA-certified optometrist shall carefully consider and document in the patient record the reasons to exceed 50 MME per day.

3. A prescription for naloxone should be considered for any patient when any risk factor of prior overdose, substance misuse, or concomitant use of benzodiazepine is present.

D. If another prescription for an opioid is to be written beyond seven days, a TPA-certified optometrist shall:

1. Reevaluate the patient and document in the patient record the continued need for an opioid prescription; and

2. Check the patient's prescription history in the Prescription Monitoring Program.

E. The patient record shall include a description of the pain, a presumptive diagnosis for the origin of the pain, an examination appropriate to the complaint, a treatment plan, and the medication prescribed (including date, type, dosage, strength, and quantity prescribed).

F. Due to a higher risk of fatal overdose when opioids are prescribed for a patient also taking benzodiazepines, sedative hypnotics, tramadol, or carisoprodol, a TPA-certified optometrist shall only co-prescribe these substances when there are extenuating circumstances and shall document in the patient record a tapering plan to achieve the lowest possible effective doses if these medications are prescribed.

Statutory Authority

§ 54.1-2400 of the Code of Virginia.

Historical Notes

Derived from Virginia Register Volume 36, Issue 4, eff. November 13, 2019.

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