| (a) The Texas Optometry Act, §351.364(a), requires that
the space occupied by the optometrist or therapeutic optometrist shall be
separated from the space occupied by the dispensing optician by solid partitions
or walls from floor to ceiling. The intent of the legislature in passing §351.364
is specifically spelled out in §351.364(d) and is to insure that the
practices of optometry and therapeutic optometry shall be carried out in such
a manner that they are completely and totally separated from the business
of any dispensing optician.
(b) In light of the overriding legislative intent in passing §351.364
that the practices of optometry and therapeutic optometry be completely and
totally separate from the business of any dispensing optician, it is the interpretation
of the board that §351.364(a), set forth in subsection (a) of this section,
prohibits the space occupied by an optometrist or therapeutic optometrist
and space occupied by a dispensing optician from being joined by a wall in
which there is a door, either locked or unlocked.
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