Bill Text: FL S0220 | 2017 | Regular Session | Introduced

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

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Bill Title: Veterinary Medicine

Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Republican 3-1)

Status: (Failed) 2017-05-05 - Died in Messages [S0220 Detail]

Download: Florida-2017-S0220-Introduced.html

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       Florida Senate - 2017                                     SB 220
       
       
        
       By Senator Latvala
       
       16-00120A-17                                           2017220__
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to veterinary medicine; amending s.
    3         474.202, F.S.; defining “complementary or alternative
    4         and integrative therapies,” “physical examination,”
    5         “veterinary dentistry,” and “veterinary telemedicine”;
    6         revising the definitions of
    7         “veterinarian/client/patient relationship,” and
    8         “veterinary medicine”; amending s. 474.2165, F.S.;
    9         conforming terminology; providing an effective date.
   10          
   11  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   12  
   13         Section 1. Section 474.202, Florida Statutes, is amended to
   14  read:
   15         474.202 Definitions.—As used in this chapter:
   16         (1) “Animal” means any mammal other than a human being or
   17  any bird, amphibian, fish, or reptile, wild or domestic, living
   18  or dead.
   19         (2) “Board” means the Board of Veterinary Medicine.
   20         (3) “Client” means the owner or caretaker of an animal who
   21  arranges for its veterinary care.
   22         (4) “Complementary or alternative and integrative
   23  therapies” means a heterogeneous group of preventive,
   24  diagnostic, and therapeutic philosophies and practices that are
   25  not considered part of conventional or Western medicine as
   26  practiced by most veterinarians. These therapies include, but
   27  are not limited to, veterinary acupuncture, acutherapy, and
   28  acupressure; veterinary homeopathy; veterinary manual or
   29  manipulative therapy, such as therapies based on techniques
   30  practiced in osteopathy, chiropractic medicine, or physical
   31  medicine and therapy; veterinary nutraceutical therapy; and
   32  veterinary physiotherapy.
   33         (5)(4) “Department” means the Department of Business and
   34  Professional Regulation.
   35         (6)(5) “Immediate supervision” or words of similar purport
   36  mean a licensed doctor of veterinary medicine is on the premises
   37  whenever veterinary services are being provided.
   38         (7)(6) “Limited-service veterinary medical practice” means
   39  offering or providing veterinary services at any location that
   40  has a primary purpose other than that of providing veterinary
   41  medical service at a permanent or mobile establishment permitted
   42  by the board; provides veterinary medical services for privately
   43  owned animals that do not reside at that location; operates for
   44  a limited time; and provides limited types of veterinary medical
   45  services.
   46         (8)(7) “Mobile veterinary establishment” and “mobile
   47  clinic” mean a mobile unit which contains the same treatment
   48  facilities as are required of a permanent veterinary
   49  establishment or which has entered into a written agreement with
   50  another veterinary establishment to provide any required
   51  facilities not available in the mobile unit. The terms do not
   52  refer to the use of a car, truck, or other motor vehicle by a
   53  veterinarian making a house call.
   54         (9)(8) “Patient” means any animal for which the
   55  veterinarian practices veterinary medicine.
   56         (10) “Physical examination” means the evaluation of a
   57  patient by the personal inspection, palpation, and auscultation
   58  by a licensed veterinary practitioner. This definition does not
   59  apply to s. 474.2185.
   60         (11)(9) “Practice of veterinary medicine” means diagnosing
   61  the medical condition of animals and prescribing, dispensing, or
   62  administering drugs, medicine, appliances, applications, or
   63  treatment of whatever nature for the prevention, cure, or relief
   64  of a wound, fracture, bodily injury, or disease thereof;
   65  performing any manual procedure for the diagnosis of or
   66  treatment for pregnancy or fertility or infertility of animals;
   67  or representing oneself by the use of titles or words, or
   68  undertaking, offering, or holding oneself out, as performing any
   69  of these functions. The term includes the determination of the
   70  health, fitness, or soundness of an animal.
   71         (12)(10) “Responsible supervision” or words of similar
   72  purport mean the control, direction, and regulation by a
   73  licensed doctor of veterinary medicine of the duties involving
   74  veterinary services which she or he delegates to unlicensed
   75  personnel.
   76         (13)(11) “Veterinarian” means a health care practitioner
   77  who is licensed to engage in the practice of veterinary medicine
   78  in Florida under the authority of this chapter.
   79         (14)(12) “Veterinarian relationship,” “client
   80  relationship,” or “patient Veterinarian/client/patient
   81  relationship” means a relationship where the veterinarian has
   82  assumed the responsibility for making medical judgments
   83  regarding the health of the animal and its need for medical
   84  treatment.
   85         (15) “Veterinary dentistry” means a discipline within the
   86  scope of veterinary practice that involves the professional
   87  examination, evaluation, diagnosis, prevention, and nonsurgical
   88  and surgical treatment of conditions, diseases, and disorders of
   89  the oral cavity and maxillofacial area and their adjacent and
   90  associated structures. A veterinary dental cleaning refers to
   91  scaling, supragingival and subgingival plaque and calculus
   92  removal, and polishing of the teeth with power or hand
   93  instruments by a licensed veterinarian or under his or her
   94  immediate supervision. Periodontal therapy, which is also
   95  included within veterinary dentistry, refers to the treatment of
   96  diseased periodontal tissues which includes professional dental
   97  cleaning as defined in this subsection and one or more of the
   98  following treatments: root planing, gingival curettage,
   99  periodontal flaps, extractions, regenerative surgery,
  100  gingivectomy or gingivoplasty, and local administration of
  101  antiseptics or antibiotics.
  102         (16)(13) “Veterinary medicine” includes, with respect to
  103  animals, surgery, acupuncture, obstetrics, veterinary dentistry,
  104  physical therapy, radiology, theriogenology, complementary or
  105  alternative veterinary medicine, veterinary telemedicine, and
  106  other branches or specialties of veterinary medicine.
  107         (17) “Veterinary telemedicine” means the practice of
  108  veterinary medicine by a licensed Florida veterinarian following
  109  a complete physical examination and the establishment of a valid
  110  patient relationship where patient care, treatment, or service
  111  is provided through the use of medical information exchanged
  112  from one site to another via electronic communications.
  113         Section 2. Subsection (3) and paragraph (a) of subsection
  114  (4) of section 474.2165, Florida Statutes, are amended to read:
  115         474.2165 Ownership and control of veterinary medical
  116  patient records; report or copies of records to be furnished.—
  117         (3) Any records owner licensed under this chapter who makes
  118  a physical an examination of, or administers treatment or
  119  dispenses legend drugs to, any patient shall, upon request of
  120  the client or the client’s legal representative, furnish, in a
  121  timely manner, without delays for legal review, copies of all
  122  reports and records relating to such examination or treatment,
  123  including X rays. The furnishing of such report or copies shall
  124  not be conditioned upon payment of a fee for services rendered.
  125         (4) Except as otherwise provided in this section, such
  126  records may not be furnished to, and the medical condition of a
  127  patient may not be discussed with, any person other than the
  128  client or the client’s legal representative or other
  129  veterinarians involved in the care or treatment of the patient,
  130  except upon written authorization of the client. However, such
  131  records may be furnished without written authorization under the
  132  following circumstances:
  133         (a) To any person, firm, or corporation that has procured
  134  or furnished physical such examination or treatment with the
  135  client’s consent.
  136         Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2017.