§ 1701. | § 1702. | § 1703. | § 1.) | § 1704. | § 2.)
Recognizing that the practice of medicine and the practices of certain other
healthcare professions are privileges and not natural rights, it is hereby
considered a matter of policy in the interests of public health, safety, and
welfare to provide laws covering the granting of those privileges and their
subsequent use and control, and to provide regulations to the end that the
public health, safety, and welfare are promoted and that the public is
properly protected from the unprofessional, improper, unauthorized, or
unqualified practice of medicine and practice of certain other healthcare
professions and from unprofessional conduct by persons authorized to practice
medicine or to practice certain other healthcare professions.
(60 Del. Laws, c. 462, § 1; 75 Del. Laws, c. 141, § 1.)
The following definitions apply to this chapter unless otherwise expressly
stated or implied by the context.
(1) "Board" means the Board of Medical Practice.
(2) "Certificate to practice medicine" means the authorization awarded by the
Board to a person who has been qualified to practice medicine in this State by
meeting the requirements of this chapter.
(3) "Division" means the Division of Professional Regulation.
(4) "Executive Director" means the Executive Director of the Board of Medical
Practice.
(5) "Healthcare institution" means a facility or agency licensed, certified,
or otherwise authorized by law to provide, in the ordinary course of business,
treatments, services, or procedures to maintain, diagnose, or otherwise
affect a person's physical or mental condition.
(6) "Medical group" means one or more physicians or other health care
practitioners who work together under the name of a professional corporation,
a limited liability partnership, or other legal entity.
(7) "Medicine" means the science of restoring or preserving health and
includes allopathic medicine and surgery, osteopathic medicine and surgery,
and all the respective branches of the foregoing.
(8) "Physician" means an allopathic doctor of medicine and surgery or a doctor
of osteopathic medicine and surgery who is registered and certified to
practice medicine pursuant to this chapter.
(9) "Practice of medicine" or "practice medicine" includes:
a. Advertising, holding out to the public, or representing in any manner that
one is authorized to practice medicine in this State;
b. Offering or undertaking to prescribe, order, give, or administer any drug
or medicine for the use of another person;
c. Offering or undertaking to prevent or to diagnose, correct, and/or treat in
any manner or by any means, methods, or devices a disease, illness, pain,
wound, fracture, infirmity, defect, or abnormal physical or mental condition
of another person, including the management of pregnancy and parturition;
d. Offering or undertaking to perform a surgical operation upon another
person;
e. Rendering a written or otherwise documented medical opinion concerning the
diagnosis or treatment of a person or the actual rendering of treatment to a
person within the State by a physician located outside the State as a result
of transmission of the person's medical data by electronic or other means from
within the State to the physician or to the physician's agent;
f. Rendering a determination of medical necessity or a decision affecting or
modifying the diagnosis and/or treatment of a person;
g. Using the designation Doctor, Doctor of Medicine, Doctor of Osteopathy,
physician, surgeon, physician and surgeon, Dr., M.D., or D.O., or a similar
designation, or any combination thereof, in the conduct of an occupation or
profession pertaining to the prevention, diagnosis, or treatment of human
disease or condition, unless the designation additionally contains the
description of another branch of the healing arts for which one holds a valid
license in the State.
For the purposes of this chapter, in order that the full resources of the
State are available for the protection of persons using the services of
physicians, the act of the practice of medicine occurs where a person is
located at the time a physician practices medicine upon the person.
(10) "Registration" means the entry of a certificate to practice medicine into
the records of the Board of Medical Practice pursuant to the regulations of
the Board.
(11) "Substantially related" means the nature of criminal conduct for which a
person was convicted has a direct bearing on the person's fitness or ability
to perform one or more of the duties or responsibilities necessarily related
to the practice of medicine, the work of a physician assistant, of the
practice of respiratory care.
(12) "Unauthorized practice of medicine" means the practice of medicine as
defined in paragraph (8) of this section by a person not authorized under this
chapter to perform an act set forth in that subsection, unless excepted by §
1703 of this title.
(60 Del. Laws, c. 462, § 1; 61 Del. Laws, c. 68, §§ 2, 3; 62 Del. Laws, c.
90, § 1; 62 Del. Laws, c. 112, § 1; 63 Del. Laws, c. 62, § 1; 65 Del. Laws, c.
490, § 1; 67 Del. Laws, c. 5, § 1; 67 Del. Laws, c. 434, § 1; 68 Del. Laws, c.
147, § 1; 68 Del. Laws, c. 152, § 1; 69 Del. Laws, c. 355, §§ 1, 2, 6; 70 Del.
Laws, c. 186, § 1; 71 Del. Laws, c. 283, § 1; 74 Del. Laws, c. 262, § 27; 75
Del. Laws, c. 141, § 1.)
§ 1703. Nonapplicability of certain provisions.
Provisions of this chapter pertaining to the practice of medicine do not apply
to:
(1) A person providing service in an emergency, where no fee or other
consideration is contemplated, charged, or received;
(2) Physicians of any civilian or military branch of the United States
government in the discharge of their official duties;
(3) Advanced practice nurses, chiropodists, chiropractors, dental hygienists,
dentists, emergency medical technicians, optometrists, pharmacists, physical
therapists, physician assistants, podiatrists, practical nurses, professional
nurses, psychologists, respiratory care practitioners, veterinarians, or
persons engaged in other professions or occupations who are certified,
licensed, or registered according to law and are acting within the scope of
the activity for which they are certified, licensed, or registered;
(4) A person administering a lawful domestic or family remedy to a member of
that person's family;
(5) A person fully certified, licensed, or otherwise authorized to practice
medicine in another state of the United States who briefly renders emergency
medical treatment or briefly provides critical medical service at the specific
lawful direction of a medical institution or federal agency that assumes full
responsibility for the treatment or service;
(6) A person who has earned a doctorate degree from a recognized college or
university and who uses the designation of "Dr." in connection with that
person's name or calls himself or herself "Doctor", except in matters related
to medicine or health, in which case the type of doctorate held must be
specified;
(7) The mechanical application of glasses;
(8) The practice of massage;
(9) The business of barbering, cosmetology, and manicuring;
(10) The practice of ritual circumcision performed pursuant to the
requirements or tenets of a religion; provided, however, that a person
certified and registered to practice medicine in this State certifies in
writing to the Board that, in the person's opinion, the circumcision
practitioner has sufficient knowledge and competence to perform a ritual
circumcision according to accepted medical standards;
(11) The practice of healing by spiritual means in accordance with the tenets
and practice of a religion by an accredited practitioner of the religion. In
the practice of healing by spiritual means, an accredited practitioner may not
use medical titles or other designations which imply or designate that the
practitioner is certified to practice medicine in this State. A person engaged
in the practice of healing by spiritual means may not perform surgical
operations or prescribe medications, nor may a pharmacist or pharmacy honor a
prescription drawn by the person. A person engaged in the practice of healing
by spiritual means must observe all state and federal public health laws;
(12) A physician from another state or jurisdiction who is in this State to
testify in a judicial or quasi judicial proceeding;
(13) The performing of delegated medical acts pursuant to subchapter VI of
this chapter by a person who is licensed by the Board as a physician
assistant;
(14) A person rendering medical, surgical, or other health services who is
functioning as a member of an organized emergency program which has been
approved by the Board of Medical Practice; who has successfully completed an
emergency medical course; and who is acting under the supervision and control
of a person certified and registered to practice medicine in this State or in
a state contiguous to this State;
(15) A licensed registered nurse making a pronouncement of death and signing
all forms or certificates registering the death as permitted or required by
the State, but only if the nurse is an attending nurse caring for a terminally
ill patient:
a. In the patient's home or place of residence as part of a hospice program or
a certified home healthcare agency program;
b. In a skilled nursing facility;
c. In a residential community associated with a skilled nursing facility;
d. In an extended care facility; or
e. In a hospice;
and only if the attending physician of record has agreed in writing to permit
the attending licensed registered nurse to make a pronouncement of death in
that case;
(16) The provisions of subchapter II, Chapter 27 of Title 16, the Uniform
Anatomical Gift Act;
(17) A medical student who is engaged in training;
(18) A person performing health care acts pursuant to Chapter 94 of Title 16
and § 1921(a) of this title;
(19) Notwithstanding the provisions of § 1702(9)e. of this title, a physician
licensed in another state or the District of Columbia may render a written or
otherwise documented medical opinion to a person covered by the State Group
Health Insurance Program pursuant to any second opinion or diagnosis
evaluation program offered by the State Group Health Insurance Program without
obtaining a certificate to practice medicine in this State.
(75 Del. Laws, c. 141, § 1; 70 Del. Laws, c. 186, } 1; 76 Del. Laws, c. 378,
§ 1704. State requirement for services of a physician or surgeon.
If a law, rule, or regulation of this State requires the services or
qualifications of a physician or surgeon, the requirement may be met only by a
person registered and certified to practice medicine under this chapter.
(60 Del. Laws, c. 462, § 1; 62 Del. Laws, c. 417, § 1; 75 Del. Laws, c. 141,
NOTICE: The Delaware Code appearing on this site was prepared by the Division of Research of Legislative Council of the General Assembly with the assistance of the Government Information Center, under the supervision of the Delaware Code Revisors and the editorial staff of LexisNexis, includes all acts up to and including 76 Del. Laws, c. 421, effective August 21, 2008.
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