MEDICAL CORPORATION: Rudick v. Board of Optometry (California Court of Appeal, First Appellate District, Division 3, A152179)

CMA filed an amicus brief in support of owners of a medical corporation with a licensed optometrist as a minority shareholder of a medical corporation that is majority-owned by an ophthalmologist and has four locations in Northern California. The lawsuit challenged the applicability of a law under the Optometric Practice Act that limits optometrists to owning no more than two offices “for the practice of optometry” to a medical corporation.

CMA's amicus brief discussed the inappropriate nature of allowing the Board of Optometry to have regulatory effect and control over a medical corporation owned and operated by a physician. The amicus brief provided the Court with a broader perspective on jointly-owned business entities between physicians and other licensed health professionals that work efficiently to provide services in a collaborative manner, and the impact this may have on future joint business ventures for physicians and patients' access to care.

On October 1, 2019, the California Court of Appeal ruled in favor of the Board and affirmed the trial court's decision.