Christine Jordan Sexton
Senate President Kathleen Passidomo remains adamant that optometrists shouldn’t be able to advertise themselves as doctors, but says if her priority legislation (SB 1112) doesn’t pass “she’s not going to lose sleep over it.”
Gov. Ron DeSantis vetoed Passidomo’s 2023 bill that she muscled through the reluctant House, which is why the Legislature once again is addressing the issue.
And once again the House is reluctant to do what Passidomo wants.
“This is a continuation of the eyeball wars,” Passidomo told reporters Tuesday afternoon. “And the optometrists objected to the bill last year. We passed it; it was vetoed. They lobbied hard. They are wrong.”
With just two days left in the 2024 Session, the fate of Passidomo’s legislation remains in flux after the House amended the Senate bill with the language from HB 1295 instead.
Passidomo, whose late father was an ophthalmologist, spoke passionately about the bill with reporters Tuesday.
“I have a lot of constituents that are elderly. And when they go in to see someone wearing a white coat with a sign that says ‘DR period and the last name,’ they believe they are (seeing) a medical doctor who went to medical school. They believe they are a medical doctor who went to medical school, Passidomo said.
“So what this bill does, it basically provides in your advertising, if you will, in the information you put out, what you wear, how you talk, you should tell your patients what your degree is. I think it’s wrong to infer or leave it silent that you have a degree you don’t have.”
4 comments
Leonard
March 7, 2024 at 1:24 pm
The only one that is “wrong” is Passidomo. She has an obvious bias on the issue and she is clearly uninformed. An optometrist not only has a 4 year college degree—they also get a four year doctoral-level degree…schools like the University of Florida offer a “Doctor of Optometry” degree. Upon completion they have earned the right to be called doctor.
Ian
March 9, 2024 at 8:34 am
It’s the reporter who’s wrong, not Passidomo.
The reporter wrote, “Kathleen Passidomo remains adamant that optometrists shouldn’t be able to advertise themselves as doctors.”
That’s not what the bill would do. Optometrists call already call themselves doctors of optometry under Florida law. The bill would not prevent that.
Michael Lange
March 7, 2024 at 8:12 pm
She must be miss informed and getting optician confused with optometrist. A doctor of Optometry / optometric physician has gone to 4 years of undergraduate school and minimum of 4 years of Optometry school and some do additional residency and fellowship training. Many Doctors of Optometry have gone to 10 years of school. An MD is not the only doctor we have many other professions called doctors that are not MDs. Think about it if u have many non MD doctors: osteopaths, naturopaths, podiatrists, psychologists, chiropractors, optometrists, other PHDs, Pharm Ds and many others. A Doctor of Optometry/ Optometric Physician can diagnose and treat diseases of the eye with topical , oral and injectable medications based on each state law. They are also trained in specific types of surgical intervention of the eye based on each state law. Optometrists have been treating vision threatening diseases of the eye for longer than most people have been alive. Yes they have earned the right to be called doctors and it is ludicrous to even have any discussion on this topic. In closing one more time MDs are not the only doctors !!!!
Ian
March 9, 2024 at 8:37 am
Dr. Lange, please see response above to Leonard. The reporter made a mistake in the article. The bill would not prevent optometrists from calling themselves doctors.
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