As used in this article:

1. (1) "Authorized delegate" means an individual who is approved as having access to the prescription monitoring program and who is directly supervised by an authorized practitioner or pharmacist.
2. (2) "Controlled substances" means those substances listed in Schedules II, III, and IV of the schedules provided for in Sections 44-53-210, 44-53-230, 44-53-250, and 44-53-270.

3. (3) "Dispenser" means a person who delivers a Schedule II-IV controlled substance to the ultimate user, but does not include:

   1. (a) a licensed hospital pharmacy that distributes controlled substances for the purpose of inpatient hospital care or dispenses prescriptions for controlled substances at the time of discharge from the hospital;
   2. (b) a practitioner or other authorized person who administers these controlled substances; or
   3. (c) a wholesale distributor of a Schedule II-IV controlled substance.
4. (4) "Drug control" means the Department of Health and Environmental Control, Bureau of Drug Control.
5. (5) "Patient" means the person or animal who is the ultimate user of a drug for whom a prescription is issued or for whom a drug is dispensed, or both.
6. (6) "Practitioner" means an individual authorized pursuant to state and federal law to prescribe controlled substances.

HISTORY: 2006 Act No. 396, Section 1, eff June 14, 2006; 2014 Act No. 244 (S.840), Section 1, eff June 6, 2014; 2017 Act No. 91 (H.3824), Section 2, eff May 19, 2017.

Effect of Amendment

2017 Act No. 91, Section 2, in the introductory paragraph, substituted "article" for "section"; redesignated (5), relating to the definition of authorized delegate, as (1), and redesignated accordingly; and added (6), relating to the definition of practitioner.