It will make life a lot easier, Dr. John Mastronardi, president of the Ontario Association of Optometrists, said of the new powers taking effect Thursday.

Many of our patients expect us to be doing this and have been surprised that we couldn’t he added.

The change which will also ease pressures on family doctors and emergency rooms has been four years in the making since the 2007 passage of the Health Systems Improvement Act, which gave optometrists the power to prescribe.

Since then, the association, the Ontario College of Optometrists and the health ministry have been working out the details and scope of the powers. They were recently approved by Premier Dalton McGuinty’s cabinet.

This is better for patients, said Health Minister Deb Matthews.

Optometrists, who must complete a four-year professional doctorate degree in university, are trained to treat disorders of the eye and vision and have prescribing powers in a number of other provinces.

The new power will be especially helpful in remote areas of the province where it is more difficult for patients to go to an ophthalmologist, said Dr. Christopher Nicol of the College of Optometrists, which regulates the province’s 1,800 optometrists.

Only optometrists who have met the college’s educational requirements on prescribing will have the new powers to prescribe eye drops and antibiotic pills on the designated list of medications.

The list of eye diseases and conditions includes bacterial and viral infections, red eye from wearing contact lenses, eyelid infections and swelling, eye pain, allergies, superficial foreign bodies in the eye and glaucoma.

Giving optometrists the power to prescribe was recommended in 2006 by Ontario’s Health Professions Regulatory Advisory Council.

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