Law: Physical Exam Required
What are Physical Exam Laws?
Laws that require a physical exam of a patient by a health care provider prior to prescribing may be intended, in part, to prevent inappropriate prescribing of controlled substances. A law was included in this resource if it requires either examining the patient or obtaining a patient history and performing a patient evaluation prior to prescribing a controlled substance or if it requires a bona fide patient-physician relationship that is elsewhere defined in statute or regulation to include a physician examination.
States with Physical Exam Laws
42 States: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, District of Columbia, Delaware, Florida, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia, Wisconsin
Note: All laws enacted as of August 31, 2010.
Features of Physical Exam Requirement Laws by State
Features |
Aspects of Feature |
States |
Type of examination required |
"Physical examination" (may also include "in person" or its equivalent) |
AL, AZ, AR, CT, DE, FL, IN, KS, KY, LA, MI, MS, MO, NV, NH, NJ, NM, NY, NC, ND, OH, OR, PA, RI, SC, TN, TX, VT, VA, WI |
"Appropriate examination" (or some approximation) |
||
Type of examination/evaluation is not specified |
||
Circumstances under which
|
For all drugs or all controlled substances |
AL, AZ, AR, CO, CT, DC, FL, HI, ID, IL, IN, IA, KY, LA, MA, MS, MO, NV, NH, NJ, NM, NY, NC, OH, OK, OR, PA, SC, TN, TX, VA, WV |
Only for "pain management" |
||
For specific controlled substances, specific schedules, or to treat specific disorder |
AK, CA, CO, DE, IN, KS, MI, MN, NV, NM, OH, OR, RI, TX, VT, VA, WI |
|
Under other circumstances |
||
Consequences of prescribing or
|
Constitutes unprofessional conduct punishable by licensing board |
|
License/application will be revoked/rejected |
||
Explicitly lists criminal liability |
||
Licensing board will report to the attorney general |
||
Role of the practitioner-patient relationship
|
Examination requirement is part of definition of practitioner-patient relationship |
AK, AZ, AR, FL, ID, KY, LA, MS, MO, NV, NH, NM, OH, SC, VT, VA |
Physical exam not necessary for previously established patient |
||
Pharmacist may not dispense if reason to believe there is no practitioner-patient relationship |
AL, CO, DC, FL, HI, ID, IL, IA, LA, MA, MS, MO, NH, NM, NC, OK, OR, TX, VA, WV |
|
Patient may not seek to obtain controlled substance without valid practitioner-patient relationship |
||
Practitioner-patient relationship is noted but undefined |
||
Enumerates exceptions where |
N/A |
AL, AZ, AR, CA, IN, MN, NH, NM, NY, NC, OH, PA, SC, TN, TX, VA, WV |
Explicit provision dealing with |
N/A |
AL, AR, CA, CO, CT, DE, ID, IA, LA, MS, MO, NH, NM, ND, OR, TN, TX, VA, WV |
Time requirement |
N/A |
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