§ 10-506. Definitions.

Dispense means to issue one (1) or more doses of any drug in a suitable container with appropriate labeling for subsequent administration to or use by a patient. This excludes hospitals, surgery centers, inpatient care facilities, assisted living facilities, outpatient facilities operated or owned by a hospital system or pharmacy and pharmacies.

Dispenser shall mean any person licensed or authorized by the State of Georgia and any board thereof to dispense drugs.

Dispensing physician is a state licensed physician who has notified the Georgia Composite Medical Board in writing of their intent to act as a dispensing physician. This notification may be made by letter to the board, or may be noted on the state license renewal form.

Medical establishment means, for the purpose of this chapter, any person, sole proprietor, corporation, or entity proposing to offer services to include: General and family medicine, specialists, chiropractic services, physical therapy, physical rehabilitation, urgent care, clinics, or any other similar healthcare services offered to the general public, excluding pain clinics. Shall not include facilities owned and operated by a hospital system.

Medical treatment means the primary services expected and received from a medical establishment.

Opioids are narcotic drugs typically prescribed to manage pain. For the purposes of this article, included under Schedule II, III and IV drugs.

Pain clinic means a medical establishment, often multidisciplinary, devoted to the diagnosis and treatment of patients with acute and chronic pain. Also known as "pain management clinics," "pain relief centers," and similar variations.

Patient means an individual receiving medical care from a medical establishment and the intended end user of prescribed medication(s).

Person includes sole proprietors, corporations, partnerships, nonprofits or any other form of business organization.

Pharmacy is a commercial establishment with a physical location, where the practice of pharmacy occurs, as defined in O.C.G.A. § 26-4-4, now and as amended.

Physician means a person licensed to practice medicine under O.C.G.A. § 43-34-21, now and as amended.

Practice of pharmacy means the interpretation, evaluation, or dispensing of prescription drug orders in the patient's best interest; participation in drug and device selection, drug administration, drug regimen reviews, and drug or drug related research; provision of patient counseling and the provision of those acts or services necessary to provide pharmacy care; performing capillary blood tests and interpreting the results as a means to screen for or monitor disease risk factors and facilitate patient education, and a pharmacist performing such functions shall report the results obtained from such blood tests to the patient's physician of choice; and the responsibility for compounding and labeling of drugs and devices, as defined in O.C.G.A. § 26-4-4, now and as amended. Individuals engaged in the practice of pharmacy shall be properly licensed and in good standing with the State of Georgia (O.C.G.A. § 26-4-40 et seq., now and as amended).

Practicing medicine means holding oneself out to the public as being engaged in the diagnosis or treatment of disease, defects, or injuries of human beings; or the suggestion, recommendation, or prescribing of any form of treatment for the intended palliation, relief or cure of any physical, mental, or functional ailment or defect of any person with the intention of receiving therefore, either directly or indirectly, any fee, gift or compensation whatsoever; or the maintenance of an office for the reception, examination, and treatment of person suffering from disease, defect, or injury of body or mind; or attaching the title "M.D.", "Oph.", "D.", "Dop.", "Surgeon", "Doctor", "D.O.", "Doctor of Osteopathy", "Allopathic Physician", "Osteopathic Physician", or "Physician", either alone or in connection with other words, or any other words or abbreviations to one's name, indicating that such person is engaged in the treatment or diagnosis of disease, defects, or injuries to human beings, provided that the terms "doctors of medicine", "doctors of osteophathic medicine", "doctors of medicine licensed to practice in the state", and similar terms wherever used or appearing in O.C.G.A. § 43-34-21 et seq., now and as amended.

Schedule I, III or IV drugs shall mean the drugs defined in O.C.G.A. §§ 16-13-26 through 16-13-29, now and as amended, as well as those so defined and regulated by the Controlled Substances Act adopted by the U.S. Congress in 1970, now and as amended.

(Ord. No. 15-12, 2-2-12)