By Andrew Kitchenman for NJ Spotlight

Some eye conditions — from serious infections to scrapes to the cornea — result in agonizing pain, and can send New Jerseyans on a trip to their optometrist. Optometrists evaluate the condition and until recently were able to prescribe hydrocodone, a powerful opioid pain reliever.

But in October, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency reclassified hydrocodone because of its addictive potential and increased the restrictions governing it, making it impossible for optometrists to prescribe the medication.

Now, a bill restoring this prerogative to optometrists in NJ has drawn opposition from the Medical Society of New Jersey, the state’s largest group representing physicians.

Medical society representatives argue that it’s appropriate to restrict the ability to prescribe opioids to medical doctors, citing ongoing state efforts to prevent and treat chemical dependence on this class of drugs. They also note that a newly approved form of hydrocodone increases the importance of restricting who can write prescriptions.

Advocates for optometrists, however, say that these specialists have an established history of safely prescribing hydrocodone; that optometrists are fully qualified and experienced in all eye treatments short of surgery; and that a better method for reducing addiction is to require all doctors to participate in the state program to track all opioid prescriptions. They’ve gained powerful allies in the Legislature, who reject the M.D.’s arguments as serving their own interests.

Read the rest of the article here.