§ 4282. Definitions

As used in this chapter:

(1) "Dispenser" means any person who "dispenses" or engages in "dispensing" as those terms are defined in 26 V.S.A. § 2022(5).

(2) "Health care provider" means an individual licensed, certified, or authorized by law to provide professional health care service in this State to an individual during that individual's medical or dental care, treatment, or confinement.

(3) "VPMS" means the Vermont Prescription Monitoring System established under this chapter.

(4) "Delegate" means an individual employed by a health care provider or pharmacy or in the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner and authorized by a health care provider or dispenser or by the Chief Medical Examiner to request information from the VPMS relating to a bona fide current patient of the health care provider or dispenser or to a bona fide investigation or inquiry into an individual's death.

(5) "Department" means the Department of Health.

(6) "Drug diversion investigator" means an employee of the Department of Public Safety whose primary duties include investigations involving violations of laws regarding prescription drugs or the diversion of prescribed controlled substances, and who has completed a training program established by the Department of Health by rule that is designed to ensure that officers have the training necessary to use responsibly and properly any information that they receive from the VPMS.

(7) "Evidence-based" means based on criteria and guidelines that reflect high-quality, cost-effective care. The methodology used to determine such guidelines shall meet recognized standards for systematic evaluation of all available research and shall be free from conflicts of interest. Consideration of the best available scientific evidence does not preclude consideration of experimental or investigational treatment or services under a clinical investigation approved by an institutional review board. (Added 2005, No. 205 (Adj. Sess.), § 1; amended 2013, No. 75, § 6; 2017, No. 113 (Adj. Sess.), § 85.)