Florida Politics - Campaigns & Elections. Lobbying & Government.

Peter SchorschMarch 28, 2017

Florida’s Eyeball Wars rage on in Tallahassee, as optometrists continue pushing a bill allowing them to perform laser surgeries despite a potentially dangerous lack of medical training. Richard Miniter, the chief executive officer of American Media Institute, broke down the issue in-depth with a three-part series co-authored with Joseph Hammond, in which he describes how […]

Phil AmmannMarch 23, 2017

Florida’s “Eyeball Wars” between ophthalmologists and optometrists could soon be spilling onto the House floor. On Monday, Speaker Richard Corcoran removed HB 1037 — a controversial bill to allow optometrists to perform surgery, among other things — off the agenda of the House Health Care Appropriations Subcommittee. A representative for Corcoran told POLITICO Florida that […]

Phil AmmannMarch 15, 2017

Optometrists enjoyed a narrow victory Wednesday in Florida’s renewed Eyeball Wars when a House committee advanced a bill to allow optometrists to perform certain types of eye surgery. After a two-hour hearing, the House Health Quality Subcommittee approved HB 1037, sponsored by Rep. Manny Diaz and opposed by both the Florida Society of Ophthalmology and […]

Peter SchorschMarch 15, 2017

Tallahassee has once again found itself in the thick of a renewed Eyeball Wars between optometrists and ophthalmologists. And no less than patient safety in Florida is on the line. After a four-year truce, optometrists have gone back on their word, drafting legislation to allow them to perform surgery; it is a proposal that ophthalmologists, […]

Peter SchorschMarch 14, 2017

Do you know who is taking care of your eyes? That question is at the heart of “Joanne’s Story” a video about a Vero Beach woman who nearly lost her eyesight after an ophthalmologist caught a rare diagnosis which was missed by her optometrist. Joanne was previously under the care of an optometrist who diagnosed […]

Peter SchorschFebruary 22, 2017

Don’t say we didn’t warn you. Nearly four years have passed since the truce was called in the decades-long “eyeballs war” between Florida optometrists and ophthalmologists. But with the Legislative Session approaching, that fragile peace seems all but finished. Optometrists are seemingly going back on their word, working behind the scenes to file legislation to […]

Peter SchorschNovember 18, 2016

As Anton Chekhov once said: If it’s not essential, don’t include it in the story. What would the great Russian novelist and playwright make of recent movements in Florida’s seemingly never-neverending Eyeball Wars between ophthalmologists and optometrists? “If you say in the first chapter that there is a rifle hanging on the wall, in the […]

Peter SchorschOctober 25, 2016

For nearly two decades, Tallahassee was the front line of an epic battle — the so-called “Eyeball Wars” — between Florida’s optometrists and ophthalmologists. On one side were optometrists — college educated to provide diagnoses and correct vision problems — fighting to perform surgery and prescribe medications beyond topical ointments and creams. Ophthalmologists, supported by […]

Tag: Florida Society of Ophthalmologists
Image via Florida A&M University.

New three-part series unpacks ‘dark side’ of money, influence in Florida’s Eyeball Wars

Speaker moves Eyeball Wars closer to House floor; docs say optometrist testimony ‘patently false’

Ophthalmologists ‘disheartened’ by House advancing bill for optometrists to practice surgery

American Surgeons warn House against latest salvo in Florida’s resurgent Eyeball Wars

Eyeball Wars: It’s all about knowing who takes care of your eyes

We told you so; Eyeball Wars set to begin anew

Chekhov’s Gun in the Eyeball Wars? Optometrists are lobbied up for 2017

Are optometrists going back on their word in ‘Eyeball War’ truce?