(a)        All optometrists licensed or applying for licensure by the Board shall report to the Board:

(1)        All medical malpractice judgments or awards affecting or involving the optometrist.

(2)        All settlements in the amount of seventy-five thousand dollars ($75,000) or more related to an incident of alleged medical malpractice affecting or involving the optometrist where the settlement occurred on or after May 1, 2008.

(3)        All settlements in the aggregate amount of seventy-five thousand dollars ($75,000) or more related to any one incident of alleged medical malpractice affecting or involving the optometrist not already reported pursuant to subdivision (2) of this subsection where, instead of a single payment of seventy-five thousand dollars ($75,000) or more occurring on or after May 1, 2008, there is a series of payments made to the same claimant which, in the aggregate, equal or exceed seventy-five thousand dollars ($75,000).

(b)        The report required under subsection (a) of this section shall contain the following information:

(1)        The date of the judgment, award, payment, or settlement.

(2)        The city, state, and country in which the incident occurred that resulted in the judgment, award, payment, or settlement.

(3)        The date the incident occurred that resulted in the judgment, award, payment, or settlement.

(c)        The Board shall publish on the Board’s Web site or other publication information collected under this section. The Board shall publish this information for seven years from the date of the judgment, award, payment, or settlement. The Board shall not release or publish individually identifiable numeric values of the reported judgment, award, payment, or settlement. The Board shall not release or publish the identity of the patient associated with the judgment, award, payment, or settlement. The Board shall allow the optometrist to publish a statement explaining the circumstances that led to the judgment, award, payment, or settlement, and whether the case is under appeal. The Board shall ensure these statements:

(1)        Conform to the ethics of optometry.

(2)        Not contain individually identifiable numeric values of the judgment, award, payment, or settlement.

(3)        Not contain information that would disclose the patient’s identity.

(d)       The term “settlement” for the purpose of this section includes a payment made from personal funds, a payment by a third party on behalf of the optometrist, or a payment from any other source of funds.

(e)        Nothing in this section shall limit the Board from collecting information needed to administer this Article. ?(2011-336, s. 2.)

Terms Used In North Carolina General Statutes 90-121.6

  • Appeal: A request made after a trial, asking another court (usually the court of appeals) to decide whether the trial was conducted properly. To make such a request is "to appeal" or "to take an appeal." One who appeals is called the appellant.
  • following: when used by way of reference to any section of a statute, shall be construed to mean the section next preceding or next following that in which such reference is made; unless when some other section is expressly designated in such reference. See North Carolina General Statutes 12-3
  • Settlement: Parties to a lawsuit resolve their difference without having a trial. Settlements often involve the payment of compensation by one party in satisfaction of the other party's claims.
  • state: when applied to the different parts of the United States, shall be construed to extend to and include the District of Columbia and the several territories, so called; and the words "United States" shall be construed to include the said district and territories and all dependencies. See North Carolina General Statutes 12-3
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