Optometrists in Puerto Ricowho protested vision insurance payors unless the payors raised their feeswere charged by the Federal Trade Commission for orchestrating a price-fixing conspiracy. The optometrists settled with the FTC by agreeing to a cease-and-desist order prohibiting them from collectively negotiating price terms with payors.

 

The online site www.ODwire.org is taking a poll to determine important questions its members want the American Optometric Association to answer. The poll is anonymous but does require free registration.

 

Optometrist and former House Speaker of the North Carolina legislature Jim Black was sentenced in federal court to more than five years in prison for accepting $25,000 to push favorable legislation for chiropractors. He started his sentence on July 30. The following day, Dr. Black was sentenced in state court for separate charges and slapped with a $1 million fine. If Dr. Black cant pay the fine by mid-December, he could receive an additional two years in prison. Following sentencing, he was transferred to a federal prison camp in Lewisburg, Pa.