Chapter 30, Chapter 30

(a) The Board shall prescribe standards for approved dialysis technician training programs, and prescribe testing standards and requirements, by legislative rule. (b) Persons and organizations providing training programs and testing services must be approved by the board. (c) App…

(a) There is established a special volunteer license for registered professional nurses retired or retiring from the active practice of nursing who wish to donate their expertise for the care and treatment of indigent and needy patients in the clinical setting of clinics organize…

(a) There is established a special volunteer license for licensed practical nurses retired or retiring from the active practice of nursing who wish to donate their expertise for the care and treatment of indigent and needy patients in the clinical setting of clinics organized, in…

(a) There is established a special volunteer license for advanced practice registered nurses retired or retiring from the active practice of nursing who wish to donate their expertise for the care and treatment of indigent and needy patients in the clinical setting of clinics org…

(a) The party states hereby create and establish a joint public entity known as the Interstate Commission of Nurse Licensure Compact Administrators. (1) The commission is an instrumentality of the party states. (2) Venue is proper, and judicial proceedings by or against the commi…

(a) The board may issue an advanced practice registered nurse license to an applicant who meets the following requirements: (1) Is at least 18 years of age; (2) Is currently certified by a national certification organization, approved by the board, in one or more of the following…

The license of every person licensed under the provisions of this article shall expire on June 30, next following the date of license. In order for such license to be renewed, the licensee shall comply with such rules and regulations of the board as are applicable to renewals. Th…

(a) The Board may: (1) Adopt and amend rules consistent with this article necessary to enable it to carry into effect the provisions of this article, including disciplinary rules; (2) Prescribe standards for preparing individuals for the role of dialysis technician under this art…

All fees and other moneys collected by the board pursuant to the provisions of this article shall be kept in a separate special fund called the Dialysis Technician Fund to be established for the board in the state Treasury and shall be used for the administration of this article.…

(a) The commission shall exercise its rulemaking powers pursuant to the criteria set forth in this section and the rules adopted thereunder. Rules and amendments shall become binding as of the date specified in each rule or amendment and shall have the same force and effect as pr…

(a) Persons regulated by this article shall annually or biennially, renew his or her board authorization by completing a form prescribed by the board and submitting any other information required by the board. (b) The board shall charge a fee for each renewal of a board authoriza…

(a) A practical nursing program is determined to be board approved if approved by the board, or the program is accredited by a national accrediting agency recognized by the United States Department of Education. The accreditation is considered board approved and is exempt from bo…

The board may issue a temporary permit to a person applying for a license under this article.

(a) Oversight (1) Each party state shall enforce this compact and take all actions necessary and appropriate to effectuate this compact’s purposes and intent. (2) The commission shall be entitled to receive service of process in any proceeding that may affect the powers, responsi…

Each license or certificate issued by the board shall bear a serial number, the full name of the applicant, the date of expiration of any such license and the date of issuance of any such certificate, the seal of the board, and shall be signed by the executive secretary of the bo…

The provisions of this article shall not be construed as prohibiting: (1) The care of a sick, disabled, injured, crippled or infirm person by a member or members of such person's family, or by close relatives, or by domestic servants, housekeepers or household aides thereof, whet…

(a) It is unlawful for any person to practice or offer to practice optometry in this state without a license or permit issued under the provisions of this article, or advertise or use any title or description tending to convey the impression that they are an optometrist unless th…

As used in this article: "Contact lens" means a lens placed directly on the surface of the eye, regardless of whether it is intended to correct a visual defect. Contact lens includes, but is not limited to, a cosmetic, therapeutic, or corrective lens; "Board" means the West Virgi…

This article establishes requirements, procedures, and standards for the certification of licensees to perform certain laser procedures.

The following persons are exempt from licensure under this article: (1) Persons licensed to practice medicine and surgery under article three of this chapter or osteopathy under article fourteen of this chapter; and (2) Persons and business entities who sell or manufacture ocular…

(a) A licensee shall annually or biennially on or before July 1, renew his or her license by completing a form prescribed by the board, paying the renewal fee and submitting any other information required by the board. (b) The board shall charge a fee for renewal of a license, an…

(a) Upon proper application and the payment of a fee, the board may issue, without examination, a temporary permit to engage in the practice of optometry in this state. (b) If the permittee receives a passing score on the examination, a temporary permit expires thirty days after …

(a) The board may issue a license to practice to an applicant of good moral character who holds a valid license or other authorization to practice optometry from another jurisdiction, if the applicant demonstrates that he or she: (1) Holds a license or other authorization to prac…

(a) A licensee may prescribe: (1) Topical pharmaceutical agents; (2) oral pharmaceutical agents that are included in the drug formulary established by the board pursuant to section six of this article or new drugs or new drug indications added by a decision of the board; and (3) …

(a) A licensee may not administer pharmaceutical agents by injection, other than epinephrine to treat emergency cases of anaphylaxis or anaphylactic shock, unless the provisions of this section, along with any legislative rule promulgated pursuant to this section, have been met. …

(a) There is established a special volunteer license for optometrists who are retired or are retiring from the active practice of optometry and wish to donate their expertise for the care and treatment of indigent and needy patients in the clinical setting of clinics organized, i…

(a) Only licensees may own a business entity that practices optometry. (b) A licensee may be employed by the business entity. (c) A business entity shall cease to engage in the practice of optometry when it is not wholly owned by licensees: Provided, That the personal representat…

(a) The board may upon its own motion based on credible information or based upon the quarterly report from the Board of Pharmacy as required by §60A-9-1 et seq. of this code shall upon the written complaint of any person cause an investigation to be made to determine whether gro…

(a) Hearings shall be governed by the provisions of section eight, article one of this chapter. (b) The board may conduct the hearing or elect to have an administrative law judge conduct the hearing. (c) If the hearing is conducted by an administrative law judge, at the conclusio…

The practice of optometry and the Board of Optometry are subject to the provisions of article one of this chapter, the provisions of this article and the board's rules.

(a) Except as otherwise provided in subsection (b), spectacles and contact lenses are medical devices and are subject to the requirements of this article. (b) The requirements of this article do not apply to the following: (1) A diagnostic contact lens that is used by a licensee …

"Laser certificate holder" means a licensee who has met the requirements of this rule and has been issued an Ophthalmic Laser Utilization Certificate by the board. "Ophthalmic laser" means any of the commercially available light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation (…

Any licensee, certificate holder or permittee adversely affected by a decision of the board entered after a hearing may obtain judicial review of the decision in accordance with section four, article five, chapter twenty-nine-a of this code, and may appeal any ruling resulting fr…

(a) When, as a result of an investigation under this article or otherwise, the board has reason to believe that a licensee, certificate holder or permittee has committed a criminal offense under this article, the board may bring its information to the attention of an appropriate …

In any action brought or in any proceeding initiated under this article, evidence of the commission of a single act prohibited by this article is sufficient to justify a penalty, injunction, restraining order or conviction without evidence of a general course of conduct.

The addition of therapeutic laser procedures, as set forth in §30-8B-6 of this code, to the scope of practice of a licensee, as defined pursuant to §30-8-3 of this code, is exempt from the requirements of §30-1A-1 et seq. of this code.

As used in this article: "Accreditation Council on Optometric Education (ACOE)" is the accrediting body for professional optometric degree (O.D.) programs, optometric residency programs, and optometric technician programs in the United States and Canada and is recognized as an ac…

A person may not: (1) Employ objective or subjective physical means to determine the accommodative or refractive condition; the range, power of vision or muscular equilibrium of the human eye or prescribe spectacles or contact lenses based on that determination unless that activi…

(a) A licensee shall meet all the requirements as listed in this article in order to be certified to utilize an ophthalmic laser. (b) A licensee shall obtain ophthalmic laser utilization certification to utilize ophthalmic lasers in West Virginia. (c) An applicant for licensure b…

(a) The West Virginia Board of Optometry is continued. The members of the board in office on July 1, 2010, shall, unless sooner removed, continue to serve until their respective terms expire and until their successors have been appointed and qualified. (b) The board shall consist…

(a) The board shall enforce the provisions of this article. (b) The board may promulgate a legislative rule in accordance with the provisions of article three, chapter twenty-nine-a of this code regarding the implementation of this article. (c) The board is not required to wait u…

To be certified the licensee shall: (1) Complete the required application form designed by the board; and (2) Submit proof of attendance and satisfactory completion of education and training, including, but not limited to, a training requirement that at a minimum of five posterio…

(a) The board has all the powers and duties set forth in this article, by rule, in article one of this chapter and elsewhere in law. (b) The board shall: (1) Hold meetings, conduct hearings and administer examinations; (2) Establish requirements for licenses, certificates and per…

A person violating this article is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not less than $1,000 nor more than $5,000.

(a) Any license granted to an applicant who graduated from an accredited school or college of optometry in 2025 or thereafter, and who passed the Laser and Surgical Procedures Examination administered by the National Board of Examiners in Optometry or other equivalent proficiency…

(a) The board shall propose rules for legislative approval, in accordance with the provisions of §29A-3-1 et seq. of this code, to implement the provisions of this article, including: (1) Standards and requirements for licenses, certificates, and permits; (2) Procedures for exami…

(a) A certificate holder may utilize ophthalmic lasers which are considered rational to the diagnosis and treatment of the human eye or its appendages. (b) The board will maintain a list of approved treatment indications and shall update the list as new treatments, technologies, …

(a) All fees and other moneys, except administrative fines, received by the board shall be deposited in a separate special revenue fund in the State Treasury designated the "West Virginia Board of Optometry Fund", which is continued. The fund is used by the board for the administ…

(a) The licensee shall perform only those ophthalmic laser procedures approved by the board. (b) New ophthalmic laser procedures may be added to the list of approved procedures by a decision of the board based on the following criteria: (1) A new or existing ophthalmic laser devi…

(a) To be eligible for a license to engage in the practice of optometry, the applicant must: (1) Be at least twenty-one years of age; (2) Be of good moral character; (3) Graduate from a school approved by the Accreditation Council on Optometric Education or successor organization…