06 LC 35
0260S
The
Senate Regulated Industries and Utilities Committee offered the following
substitute to HB 184:
A
BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
AN ACT
To
amend Title 43 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to
professions, so as to provide certain requirements relating to eye care and
treatment; to provide for certain requirements relating to contact lenses; to
provide for additional pharmaceutical agents which may be used by a doctor of
optometry for treatment purposes; to provide for related matters; to repeal
conflicting laws; and for other purposes.
BE
IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA:
SECTION
1.
Title
43 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to professions, is
amended by adding a new chapter to read as follows:
"CHAPTER
29A
43-29A-1.
As
used in this chapter, the term:
(1)
'Alternative channels of distribution' means any mail-order company, Internet
retailer, pharmacy, buying club, department store, or mass merchandise outlet
without regard to whether it is associated with a prescriber unless the account
meets the definition of a competitor as provided for in paragraph (2) of this
Code section.
(2)
'Competitor' means an entity that manufacturers contact lenses and sells those
lenses within this state in direct competition with any other
manufacturer.
(3)
'Manufacturer' means the manufacturer, its parents, subsidiaries, affiliates,
successors, and assigns.
(4)
'Prescriber' means an individual licensed or authorized to prescribe contact
lenses under the laws of this state.
43-29A-2.
(a)
Beginning July 1, 2006, a manufacturer of contact lenses doing business in the
state shall certify by affidavit to the Attorney General those brands of contact
lenses produced, marketed, distributed, or sold by the manufacturer in the state
that are made available in a commercially reasonable and nondiscriminatory
manner to:
(1)
Prescribers;
(2)
Entities associated with prescribers; and
(3)
Alternative channels of distribution.
(b)
Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a manufacturer shall only sell,
market, or distribute lenses in Georgia that have been certified under
subsection (a) of this Code section.
(c)
Subsections (a) and (b) of this Code section do not apply to:
(1)
Rigid gas permeable lenses;
(2)
Bitoric gas permeable lenses;
(3)
Bifocal gas permeable lenses;
(4)
Keratoconus lenses;
(5)
Custom soft toric lenses that are manufactured for an individual patient and are
not mass marketed or mass produced; or
(6)
Custom designed lenses that are manufactured for an individual patient and are
not mass marketed or mass produced.
(d)
Any time a brand ceases to be made available after July 1, 2006, the
manufacturer shall immediately certify that fact by affidavit to the Attorney
General.
(e)
Nothing in this Code section shall be construed to require a prescriber to
stock, sell, or prescribe any specific type brand or specific
manufactureŕs
line of contact lenses.
43-29A-3.
Nothing
in Code Section 43-29A-2 is intended to require a manufacturer to:
(1)
Sell to a competitor;
(2)
Sell contact lenses to different contact lens distributors or customers at the
same price;
(3)
Open or maintain an account for a contact lens seller who is not in substantial
compliance with Georgia and federal law regarding the sale of contact
lenses;
(4)
Decide whether a low volume account with a contact lens seller is a direct
account or handled through a distributor; or
(5)
Sell to customers in all geographic areas lenses that are being test marketed on
a limited basis in one geographic area.
43-29A-4.
(a)
A knowing and intentional violation of Code Section 43-29A-2 shall constitute a
misdemeanor.
(b)
The Attorney General may bring a civil action or seek an injunction or both
against any person, entity, or manufacturer who violates the provisions of Code
Section
43-29A-2."
SECTION
2.
All
laws and parts of laws in conflict with this Act are repealed.