New Mexico Administrative Code
Title 16 - OCCUPATIONAL AND PROFESSIONAL LICENSING
Chapter 17 - OSTEOPATHIC MEDICINE AND SURGERY PRACTITIONERS
Part 4 - PRESCRIBING AND DISTRIBUTION OF CONTROLLED SUBSTANCES
Section 16.17.4.7 - DEFINITIONS

A. "Acute pain" means the normal predicted physiological response to a noxious chemical or thermal or mechanical stimulus typically associated with invasive procedures, trauma, or disease and is generally time limited.

B. "Addiction" is a neurobehavioral syndrome with genetic and environmental influences that results in psychological dependence on the use of substances for their psychic effects. It is characterized by behaviors that include one or more of the following: impaired control over drug use; compulsive use; continued use despite harm; and, craving. Physical dependence and tolerance are normal physiological consequences of extended opioid therapy for pain and should not by themselves be considered addiction.

C. "Administer" means to apply a prepackaged drug directly to the body of a patient by any means.

D. "Chronic pain" means a pain that persists after reasonable efforts have been made to relieve the pain or its cause and that continues, either continuously or episodically for longer than three consecutive months. "Chronic pain" does not, for the purpose of the Pain Relief Act requirements, include pain associated with a terminal condition.

E. "Clinical pain expert" means a person who by reason of specialized education or substantial relevant experience in pain management, has knowledge regarding current standards, practices and guidelines.

F. "Delegate" means a person designated by a practitioner for the purpose of requesting and receiving prescription monitoring program (PMP) reports for that practitioner.

G. "Dispense" means to deliver a drug directly to a patient and includes the compounding, labeling and repackaging of a drug from a bulk or original container.

H. "Distribute" means to administer or supply to a patient under the direct care of the distributing physician or physician assistant one or more doses of drugs prepackaged by a licensed pharmacist and excludes the compounding or repackaging from a bulk or original container.

I. "Drug abuser" means a person who takes a drug or drugs for other than legitimate medical purposes.

J. "Established practitioner-patient relationship" means a relationship between a physician or a physician assistant and a patient that is for the purpose of maintaining the patient's well-being. At a minimum, this relationship is established by an interactive encounter between patient and physician or a physician assistant involving an appropriate history and physical or mental status examination sufficient to make a diagnosis and to provide, prescribe or recommend treatment, with the informed consent from the patient and availability of the physician or physician assistant or coverage for the patient for appropriate follow-up care. A medical record must be generated by the encounter.

K. "Formulary" means any dangerous drugs; including schedule II-V controlled substances, physicians may use in the care of patients where there is an established physician-patient relationship.

L. "Licensed osteopathic physician" means an osteopathic physician licensed by the New Mexico board of osteopathic medicine in New Mexico.

M. "Pain" means acute or chronic pain or both.

N. "Physical dependence" means a state of adaptation that is manifested by a drug-specific withdrawal syndrome that can be produced by abrupt cessation, rapid dose reduction, decreasing blood level of the drug, administration of an antagonist, or a combination of these.

O. "Practitioner" means a New Mexico osteopathic physician or osteopathic physician assistant maintaining licensure pursuant to state law that allows that individual to prescribe, order, administer or dispense controlled substances to patients.

P. "Prescribe" means to issue an order individually for the person for whom prescribed, either directly from the prescriber to the pharmacist or indirectly by means of a written order signed by the prescriber bearing the name and address of the prescriber, license classification, the name and address of the patient, the name of the drug prescribed, direction for use and the date of issue.

Q. "Prescription monitoring program" means a centralized system to collect, monitor, and analyze electronically for controlled substances, prescribing and dispensing data submitted by pharmacies and dispensing practitioners. The data are used to support efforts in education, research, enforcement and abuse prevention.

R. "Tolerance" means a state of adaptation in which exposure to a drug induces changes that result in a diminution of one or more of the drug's effects over time.