Mo. Rev. Stat. » Chapter 336
Missouri Revised Statutes

Mo. Rev. Stat. § 336.010 (2026)

Defining practice of optometry

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  336.010.  Defining practice of optometry — other definitions. — 1.  The "practice of optometry" is the examination, diagnosis, treatment, and preventative care of the eye, adnexa, and vision.  The practice includes, but is not limited to:

  (1)  The examination of the eye, adnexa, and vision to determine the accommodative and refractive states, visual perception, conditions, and diseases;

  (2)  The diagnosis and treatment of conditions or diseases of the eye, adnexa, and vision;

  (3)  The performance of diagnostic procedures and ordering of laboratory and imaging tests for the diagnosis of vision and conditions and diseases of the eye and adnexa;

  (4)  The prescription and administration of pharmaceutical agents, excluding injectable agents, for the purpose of examination, diagnosis, and treatment of vision and conditions or diseases of the eye and adnexa;

  (5)  The removal of superficial foreign bodies from the eye or adnexa;

  (6)  The employment of objective or subjective mechanical means to determine the accommodative or refractive states of the human eye;

  (7)  The prescription or adaptation of lenses, prisms, devices, or ocular exercises to correct defects or abnormal conditions of the human eye or vision or to adjust the human eye to special conditions;

  (8)  The prescription and fitting of ophthalmic or contact lenses and devices;

  (9)  The prescription and administration of vision therapy; and

  (10)  The prescription and administration of low vision care.

  2.  An optometrist may not perform surgery, including the use of lasers for treatment of any disease or condition or for the correction of refractive error.

  3.  As used in this chapter, except as the context may otherwise require, the following terms mean:

  (1)  "Eye", the human eye;

  (2)  "Adnexa", all structures adjacent to the eye and the conjunctiva, lids, lashes, and lacrimal system;

  (3)  "Board", the Missouri state board of optometry;

  (4)  "Diagnostic pharmaceutical agents", topically applied pharmaceuticals used for the purpose of conducting an examination of the eye, adnexa, and vision;

  (5)  "Low vision care", the examination, treatment, and management of patients with visual impairments not treatable by conventional eyewear or contact lenses and may include a vision rehabilitation program to enhance remaining vision skills;

  (6)  "Pharmaceutical agents", any diagnostic and therapeutic drug or combination of drugs that assist the diagnosis, prevention, treatment, or mitigation of abnormal conditions or symptoms of the human eye, adnexa, and vision;

  (7)  "Therapeutic pharmaceutical agents", those pharmaceuticals, excluding injectable agents, used for the treatment of conditions or diseases of the eye, adnexa, and vision;

  (8)  "Vision therapy", a treatment regiment to improve a patient's diagnosed visual dysfunctions, prevent the development of visual problems, or enhance visual performance to meet the defined needs of the patient.

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(RSMo 1939 § 10113, A.L. 1981 S.B. 16, A.L. 2007 H.B. 780 merged with S.B. 308)

Prior revision: 1929 § 13501

(1972) Held that activities and practices of respondents which included the completing, preparing, and issuing of the prescription from which contact lenses were fabricated and the fitting of contact lenses constituted the prescription and adaptation of lenses to correct defects or abnormal conditions of the human eye, and thus constituted the practice of optometry and were illegal without a certificate of registration as a registered optometrist issued by the state board of optometry.  State ex inf. Danforth v. Dale Curteman, Inc. (Mo.), 480 S.W.2d 848.

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 6 cases, 1960–1983 · leading case: State Ex Inf. Danforth v. Dale Curteman, Inc., 480 S.W.2d 848 (Mo. 1972).
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State Ex Inf. Danforth v. Dale Curteman, Inc., 480 S.W.2d 848 (Mo. 1972). · cites it 9× “This involves the construction of § 336.010, V.A.M.S., in particular: “336.”
Kitchen v. Wilson, 335 S.W.2d 38 (Mo. 1960). · cites it 2× “Section 336.010 in defining the practice of optometry stresses the “examination of the human eye” for the discovery of defects which can be corrected “by the use of lenses, prisms or ocular exercises” and the prescription of corrective glasses or exercises all “without the use…”
City of St. Ann v. Elam, 661 S.W.2d 632 (Mo. Ct. App. 1983). · cites it 3× “…Cyclopedic Medical Dictionary (14th ed.) 1981 . Id. . 2 Schmidt’s Attorneys’ Dictionary of Medicine 46 (1983) .See Section 336.010 RSMo 1978.”
Ketring v. Sturges, 372 S.W.2d 104 (Mo. 1963). · cites it 2× “Section 336.010 defines the practice of optometry as follows: “(1) The examination of the human eye, without the use of drugs, medicines or surgery, to ascertain the presence of defects or abnormal conditions which can be corrected by the use of lenses, prisms or ocular…”
Bresler v. Tietjen, 424 S.W.2d 65 (Mo. 1968). · cites it 2× “Section 336.010 defines what constitutes the practice of optometry, and briefly stated it consists of the examination of the human eye, without the use of drugs, medicine, or surgery to ascertain defects and abnormal conditions, and the prescription or adaption of lenses,…”
Kendis v. Ribicoff, 198 F. Supp. 180 (W.D. Mo. 1961). · cites it 2× “” The Court construed what is now Section 336.010 RS Mo., V.A.M.S. the statutory definition of the practice of optometry in Missouri.”
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