South Carolina Code 40-47-113. Establishment of physician-patient relationship as prerequisite to prescribing drugs; unprofessional conduct
(1) personally perform and document an appropriate history and physical examination, make a diagnosis, and formulate a therapeutic plan;
Terms Used In South Carolina Code 40-47-113
- Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
- Physician: means a doctor of medicine or doctor of osteopathic medicine licensed by the South Carolina Board of Medical Examiners. See South Carolina Code 40-47-20
- Telemedicine: means the practice of medicine using electronic communications, information technology, or other means between a licensee in one location and a patient in another location with or without an intervening practitioner. See South Carolina Code 40-47-20
- Unprofessional conduct: means acts or behavior that fail to meet the minimally acceptable standard expected of similarly situated professionals including, but not limited to, conduct that may be harmful to the health, safety, and welfare of the public, conduct that may reflect negatively on one's fitness to practice, or conduct that may violate any provision of the code of ethics adopted by the board or a specialty. See South Carolina Code 40-47-20
(2) discuss with the patient the diagnosis and the evidence for it, and the risks and benefits of various treatment options; and
(3) ensure the availability of the licensee or coverage for the patient for appropriate follow-up care.
(B) Notwithstanding subsection (A), a licensee may prescribe for a patient whom the licensee has not personally examined under certain circumstances including, but not limited to, writing admission orders for a newly hospitalized patient, prescribing for a patient of another licensee for whom the prescriber is taking call, prescribing for a patient examined by a licensed advanced practice registered nurse, a physician assistant, or other physician extender authorized by law and supervised by the physician, continuing medication on a short-term basis for a new patient before the patient’s first appointment, or prescribing for a patient for whom the licensee has established a physician-patient relationship solely via telemedicine so long as the licensee complies with § 40-47-37 of this act.
(C) Prescribing drugs to individuals the licensee has never personally examined based solely on answers to a set of questions is unprofessional.