The Board may refuse to admit an applicant to any examination; refuse to grant or renew a license or certificate; reprimand, place on probation, or impose a monetary penalty on a licensee; or impose such terms as it may designate, suspend for a stated period of time, or revoke any license or certificate for any of the following causes:

Terms Used In Virginia Code 54.1-3215

  • Board: means the Board of Optometry. See Virginia Code 54.1-3200
  • Conviction: A judgement of guilt against a criminal defendant.
  • Fraud: Intentional deception resulting in injury to another.
  • Optometrist: means any person practicing the profession of optometry as defined in this chapter and the regulations of the Board. See Virginia Code 54.1-3200
  • Person: includes any individual, corporation, partnership, association, cooperative, limited liability company, trust, joint venture, government, political subdivision, or any other legal or commercial entity and any successor, representative, agent, agency, or instrumentality thereof. See Virginia Code 1-230
  • Practice of optometry: means practice in accordance with the provisions of § 54. See Virginia Code 54.1-3200
  • Probation: A sentencing alternative to imprisonment in which the court releases convicted defendants under supervision as long as certain conditions are observed.
  • State: when applied to a part of the United States, includes any of the 50 states, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, and the United States Virgin Islands. See Virginia Code 1-245
  • United States: includes the 50 states, the District of Columbia the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands and the United States Virgin Islands. See Virginia Code 1-255

1. Fraud or deceit in his practice;

2. Conviction of any felony under the laws of the Commonwealth, another state, the District of Columbia, or any United States possession or territory or of any misdemeanor under such laws involving moral turpitude;

3. Conducting his practice in such a manner as to endanger the health and welfare of his patients or the public;

4. Use of alcohol or drugs to the extent such use renders him unsafe to practice optometry or mental or physical illness rendering him unsafe to practice optometry;

5. Knowingly and willfully employing an unlicensed person to do anything for which a license to practice optometry is required;

6. Neglecting or refusing to display his license for the current year;

7. Obtaining of any fee by fraud or misrepresentation or the practice of deception or fraud upon any patient;

8. Advertising that directly or indirectly deceives, misleads, or defrauds the public, claims professional superiority, or offers free optometrical services or examinations;

9. Employing, procuring, or inducing a person not licensed to practice optometry to so practice;

10. Aiding or abetting in the practice of optometry any person not duly licensed to practice in the Commonwealth;

11. Advertising, practicing, or attempting to practice optometry under a name other than one’s own name as set forth on the license;

12. Lending, leasing, renting, or in any other manner placing his license at the disposal or in the service of any person not licensed to practice optometry in the Commonwealth;

13. Splitting or dividing a fee with any person or persons other than with a licensed optometrist who is a legal partner or comember of a professional limited liability company formed to engage in the practice of optometry;

14. Practicing optometry where any officer, employee, or agent of a commercial or mercantile establishment, as defined in subsection C of § 54.1-3205, who is not licensed in the Commonwealth to practice optometry or medicine directly or indirectly controls, dictates, or influences the professional judgment, including but not limited to the level or type of care or services rendered, of the licensed optometrist;

15. Violating other standards of conduct as adopted by the Board;

16. Violating, assisting, inducing, or cooperating with others in violating any provisions of law relating to the practice of optometry, including the provisions of this chapter or of any regulation of the Board.

Code 1950, § 54-388; 1968, c. 505; 1976, c. 758; 1977, c. 161; 1979, c. 39; 1988, c. 765; 1990, c. 307; 1992, c. 574; 1999, c. 937; 2023, c. 268.

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