1. Except as otherwise provided in NRS 449.069, each facility for refractive surgery shall, when applying for a license or renewing a license, file with the Administrator of the Division a surety bond:

(a) If the facility employs less than 7 employees, in the amount of $10,000;

(b) If the facility employs at least 7 but not more than 25 employees, in the amount of $50,000; or

(c) If the facility employs more than 25 employees, in the amount of $100,000.

2. A bond filed pursuant to this section must be executed by the facility as principal and by a surety company as surety. The bond must be payable to the Division and must be conditioned to provide indemnification to a patient of the facility who the Administrator of the Division or the Administrator’s designee determines has sustained any damages as a result of the bankruptcy of or any breach of contract by the facility.

3. Except when a surety is released, the surety bond must cover the period of the initial license to operate or the period of the renewal, as appropriate.

4. A surety on any bond filed pursuant to this section may be released after the surety gives 30 days’ written notice to the Administrator of the Division, but the release does not discharge or otherwise affect any claim filed by a patient for any damages sustained as a result of the bankruptcy of or any breach of contract by the facility while the bond was in effect.

5. The license of a facility for refractive surgery is suspended by operation of law when the facility is no longer covered by a surety bond as required by this section or by a substitute for the surety bond pursuant to NRS 449.069. The Administrator of the Division shall give the facility at least 20 days’ written notice before the release of the surety or the substitute for the surety, to the effect that the license will be suspended by operation of law until another surety bond is filed or substitute for the surety bond is deposited in the same manner and amount as the bond or substitute being terminated.

(Added to NRS by 2001, 1340; A 2005, 2696)