AGO Opinion Topics: ANTITRUST

1.  RCW 18.54.070(2) authorizes the Optometry Board to adopt rules to promote safety, protection and the welfare of the public.  This authority empowers the Board to adopt rules setting standards for prescribing practices and defining a contact lens prescription. 2.  Rules adopted by the Optometry Board to set standards for prescribing practices and defining a contact lens prescription will not improperly regulate dispensing opticians, for RCW 18.43.060 provides that dispensing opticians may fit contact lenses only upon written prescription of a physician or optometrist.   3.  Rules adopted by the Optometry Board to set standards for prescribing practices and defining a contact lens prescription will probably not co conflict with applicable Federal Trade Commission Rules.  4.   Rules adopted by the Optometry Board to set standards for prescribing practices and defining a contact lens prescription will probably not violate federal antitrust laws because such laws do not apply to anticompetitive restraints imposed by the state as an act of government.