A physician who, as part of a medical treatment plan for a patient with reduced life expectancy due to advanced illness, prescribes for that patient a controlled substance that is included in schedules 2 to 5 under part 72 and that is a narcotic drug is immune from administrative and civil liability based on prescribing the controlled substance if the prescription is given in good faith and with the intention to treat a patient with reduced life expectancy due to advanced illness or alleviate the patient’s pain, or both, and all of the following are met:
  (a) The prescription is for a legitimate legal and professionally recognized therapeutic purpose.

Terms Used In Michigan Laws 333.5658

  • Advanced illness: except as otherwise provided in this subdivision, means a medical or surgical condition with significant functional impairment that is not reversible by curative therapies and that is anticipated to progress toward death despite attempts at curative therapies or modulation, the time course of which may or may not be determinable through reasonable medical prognostication. See Michigan Laws 333.5653
  • Medical treatment: means a treatment including, but not limited to, palliative care treatment, or a procedure, medication, surgery, a diagnostic test, or a hospice plan of care that may be ordered, provided, or withheld or withdrawn by a health professional or a health facility under generally accepted standards of medical practice and that is not prohibited by law. See Michigan Laws 333.5653
  • Patient: means an individual who is under the care of a physician. See Michigan Laws 333.5653
  • Physician: means that term as defined in section 17001 or 17501. See Michigan Laws 333.5653
  (b) Prescribing the controlled substance is within the scope of practice of the physician.
  (c) The physician holds a valid license under article 7 to prescribe controlled substances.
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