Terms Used In Alaska Statutes > Title 13 > Chapter 52 - Health Care Decisions Act

• action: includes any matter or proceeding in a court, civil or criminal. See Alaska Statutes 01.10.060
• administer: means the direct application of a drug to the body of a patient or research subject by injection, inhalation, ingestion, or other means. See Alaska Statutes 08.80.480
• advance health care directive: means an individual instruction or a durable power of attorney for health care. See Alaska Statutes 13.52.390
• advanced practice registered nurse: has the meaning given in Alaska Stat. See Alaska Statutes 13.52.390
• agent: means an individual designated in a durable power of attorney for health care to make a health care decision for the individual granting the power. See Alaska Statutes 13.52.390
• Amendment: A proposal to alter the text of a pending bill or other measure by striking out some of it, by inserting new language, or both. Before an amendment becomes part of the measure, thelegislature must agree to it.
• anatomical gift: means a donation of all or a part of a human body to take effect after the donor's death for the purpose of transplantation, therapy, research, or education. See Alaska Statutes 13.52.390
• artificial nutrition and hydration: means medically appropriate nutrition and hydration delivered
  (A) through an intravenous needle placed directly in a vein. See Alaska Statutes 13.52.390
• available: means , when referring to a person, that the
  (A) person's existence is known. See Alaska Statutes 13.52.390
• best interest: means that the benefits to the individual resulting from a treatment outweigh the burdens to the individual resulting from that treatment after assessing
  (A) the effect of the treatment on the physical, emotional, and cognitive functions of the patient. See Alaska Statutes 13.52.390
• biological product: means a product that is applicable to the prevention, treatment, or cure of a disease or condition of human beings, and is a virus, therapeutic serum, toxin, antitoxin, vaccine, blood, blood component or derivative, allergenic product, protein other than a chemically synthesized polypeptide, or analogous product, or arsphenamine or derivative of arsphenamine or any other trivalent organic arsenic compound. See Alaska Statutes 08.80.480
• board: means the Board of Pharmacy. See Alaska Statutes 08.80.480
• board: means the State Physical Therapy and Occupational Therapy Board. See Alaska Statutes 08.84.190
• cardiopulmonary resuscitation: means an attempt to restore spontaneous circulation. See Alaska Statutes 13.52.390
• Codicil: An addition, change, or supplement to a will executed with the same formalities required for the will itself.
• competent: means that an individual has the capacity
  (A) to assimilate relevant facts and to appreciate and understand the individual's situation with regard to those facts. See Alaska Statutes 13.52.390
• Complaint: A written statement by the plaintiff stating the wrongs allegedly committed by the defendant.
• compounding: means the preparation, mixing, assembling, packaging, or labeling of a drug or device (A) as the result of a practitioner's prescription drug order or initiative based on the relationship of the practitioner, patient, and pharmacist in the course of professional practice or (B) for the purpose of, or as an incident to, research, teaching, or chemical analysis and not for sale or dispensing. See Alaska Statutes 08.80.480
• Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
• controlled substance: has the meaning given in Alaska Stat. See Alaska Statutes 08.80.480
• Corporation: A legal entity owned by the holders of shares of stock that have been issued, and that can own, receive, and transfer property, and carry on business in its own name.
• Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
• Decedent: A deceased person.
• delivery: means the actual, constructive, or attempted transfer of a drug or device from one person to another, whether or not for consideration. See Alaska Statutes 08.80.480
• department: means the Department of Health. See Alaska Statutes 13.52.390
• device: means an instrument, apparatus, implement, machine, contrivance, implant, or other similar or related article, including a component part or accessory, that is required under federal law to bear the label "Caution: Federal or state law requires dispensing by or on the order of a physician". See Alaska Statutes 08.80.480
• Discovery: Lawyers' examination, before trial, of facts and documents in possession of the opponents to help the lawyers prepare for trial.
• dispensing: means the preparation and delivery of a drug or device to a patient or patient's agent under a lawful order of a practitioner in a suitable container appropriately labeled for subsequent administration to, or use by, a patient. See Alaska Statutes 08.80.480
• do not resuscitate identification: means an identification card, form, necklace, or bracelet that carries the standardized design or symbol developed by the department under Alaska Stat. See Alaska Statutes 13.52.390
• do not resuscitate order: means a directive from a licensed physician, advanced practice registered nurse, or physician assistant that emergency cardiopulmonary resuscitation should not be administered to a qualified patient. See Alaska Statutes 13.52.390
• Donor: The person who makes a gift.
• drug: means an article recognized as a drug in an official compendium, or supplement to an official compendium. See Alaska Statutes 08.80.480
• durable power of attorney for health care: means a power of attorney that remains in effect when the principal lacks capacity. See Alaska Statutes 13.52.390
• Equitable: Pertaining to civil suits in "equity" rather than in "law." In English legal history, the courts of "law" could order the payment of damages and could afford no other remedy. See damages. A separate court of "equity" could order someone to do something or to cease to do something. See, e.g., injunction. In American jurisprudence, the federal courts have both legal and equitable power, but the distinction is still an important one. For example, a trial by jury is normally available in "law" cases but not in "equity" cases. ^{Source: U.S. Courts}
• equivalent drug product: means a drug product that has the same established name, active ingredients, strength or concentration, and route of administration and that is formulated to contain the same amount of active ingredients in the same dosage form and to meet the same compendia or other applicable standards for strength, quality, purity, and identity, but that may differ in characteristics such as shape, scoring configuration, packaging, excipients including colors, flavors, preservatives, and expiration time. See Alaska Statutes 08.80.480
• 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.
• Fraud: Intentional deception resulting in injury to another.
• generally accepted health care standards: includes the protocol for do not resuscitate orders that is adopted under Alaska Stat. See Alaska Statutes 13.52.390
• Gift: A voluntary transfer or conveyance of property without consideration, or for less than full and adequate consideration based on fair market value.
• Guardian: A person legally empowered and charged with the duty of taking care of and managing the property of another person who because of age, intellect, or health, is incapable of managing his (her) own affairs.
• guardian: means a judicially appointed person having authority to make a health care decision for an individual. See Alaska Statutes 13.52.390
• health care: means any care, treatment, service, or procedure to maintain, diagnose, or otherwise affect an individual's physical or mental condition. See Alaska Statutes 13.52.390
• health care decision: means a decision made by an individual or the individual's agent, guardian, or surrogate regarding the individual's health care, including
  (A) selection and discharge of health care providers and institutions. See Alaska Statutes 13.52.390
• health care facility: means a nursing home, a rehabilitation center, a long-term care facility, and any other health care institution that administers health care and that provides overnight stays in the ordinary course of the facility's business. See Alaska Statutes 13.52.390
• health care institution: means an institution, facility, or agency licensed, certified, or otherwise authorized or permitted by law to provide health care in the ordinary course of business. See Alaska Statutes 13.52.390
• health care provider: means an individual licensed, certified, or otherwise authorized or permitted by law to provide health care in the ordinary course of business or practice of a profession. See Alaska Statutes 13.52.390
• hospital: means a facility
  (A) licensed, accredited, or approved as a hospital under the laws of this state. See Alaska Statutes 13.52.390
• individual instruction: means an individual's direction concerning a health care decision for the individual. See Alaska Statutes 13.52.390
• interchangeable biological product: means a biological product that the United States Food and Drug Administration has determined
  (A) meets the standards for interchangeability under 42 U. See Alaska Statutes 08.80.480
• intern: means an individual who is
  (A) currently licensed by this state to engage in the practice of pharmacy while under the personal supervision of a pharmacist and is satisfactorily progressing toward meeting the requirements for licensure as a pharmacist. See Alaska Statutes 08.80.480
• Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
• labeling: means the process of preparing and affixing a label to a drug container, exclusive, however, of the labeling by a manufacturer, packer, or distributor of a nonprescription drug or commercially packed legend drug or device. See Alaska Statutes 08.80.480
• legend drug: means a prescription drug. See Alaska Statutes 08.80.480
• life-sustaining procedures: means any medical treatment, procedure, or intervention that, in the judgment of the primary physician, advanced practice registered nurse, or physician assistant, when applied to a patient with a qualifying condition, would not be effective to remove the qualifying condition, would serve only to prolong the dying process, or, when administered to a patient with a condition of permanent unconsciousness, may keep the patient alive but is not expected to restore consciousness. See Alaska Statutes 13.52.390
• mental health facility: has the meaning given to "designated treatment facility" in Alaska Stat. See Alaska Statutes 13.52.390
• mental health treatment: means electroconvulsive treatment, treatment with psychotropic medication, or admission to and retention in a health care institution for mental health treatment. See Alaska Statutes 13.52.390
• nonprescription drug: means a nonnarcotic medicine or drug that may be sold without a prescription and that is prepackaged for use by the consumer and labeled in accordance with the requirements of the statutes and regulations of the state and the federal government. See Alaska Statutes 08.80.480
• Obligation: An order placed, contract awarded, service received, or similar transaction during a given period that will require payments during the same or a future period.
• occupational therapist: means a person who practices occupational therapy. See Alaska Statutes 08.84.190
• occupational therapy: includes
  (A) developing daily living, play, leisure, social, and developmental skills. See Alaska Statutes 08.84.190
• occupational therapy assistant: means a person who assists in the practice of occupational therapy under the supervision of an occupational therapist. See Alaska Statutes 08.84.190
• owner: means the owner of a place of business for wholesaling, retailing, compounding, or dispensing drugs, medicines, or poisons. See Alaska Statutes 08.80.480
• part: means an organ, tissue, or an eye of a human being, except fetal tissue. See Alaska Statutes 13.52.390
• Partnership: A voluntary contract between two or more persons to pool some or all of their assets into a business, with the agreement that there will be a proportional sharing of profits and losses.
• patient counseling: means the communication by the pharmacist of information, as defined in the regulations of the board, to the patient or care giver in order to improve therapy by ensuring proper use of drugs and devices. See Alaska Statutes 08.80.480
• permanent unconsciousness: means a condition
  (A) that, to a high degree of medical certainty, will last permanently without improvement. See Alaska Statutes 13.52.390
• person: has the meaning given in Alaska Stat. See Alaska Statutes 08.80.480
• person: includes a corporation, company, partnership, firm, association, organization, business trust, or society, as well as a natural person. See Alaska Statutes 01.10.060
• person: means an individual, corporation, business trust, estate, trust, partnership, joint venture, association, government, governmental subdivision, governmental agency, or another legal or commercial entity. See Alaska Statutes 13.52.390
• pharmacist: means an individual currently licensed by this state to engage in the practice of pharmacy. See Alaska Statutes 08.80.480
• pharmacist-in-charge: means a pharmacist who accepts responsibility for operation of a pharmacy in a manner that complies with laws and regulations applicable to the practice of pharmacy and the distribution of drugs and who is personally in charge of the pharmacy and the pharmacy's personnel. See Alaska Statutes 08.80.480
• pharmacy: means a place in this state where drugs are dispensed and pharmaceutical care is provided and a place outside of this state that is subject to licensure or registration under Alaska Stat. See Alaska Statutes 08.80.480
• physical therapist: means a person who practices physical therapy. See Alaska Statutes 08.84.190
• physical therapist assistant: means a person who assists in the practice of physical therapy or an aspect of physical therapy as initiated, supervised, and terminated by a licensed physical therapist. See Alaska Statutes 08.84.190
• physical therapy: means the examination, treatment and instruction of human beings to detect, assess, prevent, correct, alleviate and limit physical disability, bodily malfunction, pain from injury, disease and other bodily or mental conditions and includes the administration, interpretation and evaluation of tests and measurements of bodily functions and structures. See Alaska Statutes 08.84.190
• physician assistant: means an individual licensed under Alaska Stat. See Alaska Statutes 13.52.390
• Power of attorney: A written instrument which authorizes one person to act as another's agent or attorney. The power of attorney may be for a definite, specific act, or it may be general in nature. The terms of the written power of attorney may specify when it will expire. If not, the power of attorney usually expires when the person granting it dies. ^{Source: OCC}
• power of attorney: means the designation of an agent to make health care decisions for the individual granting the power. See Alaska Statutes 13.52.390
• practice of pharmacy: means the interpretation, evaluation, and dispensing of prescription drug orders in the patient's best interest. See Alaska Statutes 08.80.480
• practitioner: means an individual currently licensed, registered, or otherwise authorized by the jurisdiction in which the individual practices to prescribe and administer drugs in the course of professional practice. See Alaska Statutes 08.80.480
• preceptor: means an individual who is currently licensed by the board, meets the qualifications as a preceptor under the regulations of the board, and participates in the instructional training of pharmacy interns. See Alaska Statutes 08.80.480
• prescription drug: means a drug that, under federal law, before being dispensed or delivered, is required to be labeled with either of the following statements:
  (A) "Caution: Federal law prohibits dispensing without prescription". See Alaska Statutes 08.80.480
• prescription drug order: means a lawful order of a practitioner for a drug or device for a specific patient. See Alaska Statutes 08.80.480
• primary physician: means a physician designated by an individual, or by the individual's agent, guardian, or surrogate, to have primary responsibility for the individual's health care or, in the absence of a designation or if the designated physician is not reasonably available, a physician who undertakes the responsibility. See Alaska Statutes 13.52.390
• Probate: Proving a will
• qualified patient: means a patient with a qualifying condition who is eligible for do not resuscitate identification. See Alaska Statutes 13.52.390
• qualifying condition: means a terminal condition or permanent unconsciousness in a patient. See Alaska Statutes 13.52.390
• Quorum: The number of legislators that must be present to do business.
• reasonably available: means available using a level of diligence appropriate to the seriousness and urgency of an individual's health care needs. See Alaska Statutes 13.52.390
• state: means a state, territory, or possession of the United States, the District of Columbia, or the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. See Alaska Statutes 13.52.390
• state: means the State of Alaska unless applied to the different parts of the United States and in the latter case it includes the District of Columbia and the territories. See Alaska Statutes 01.10.060
• substitute: means to dispense, without the prescriber's expressed authorization,
  (A) an equivalent drug product in place of the prescribed drug. See Alaska Statutes 08.80.480
• supervising health care provider: means the primary physician or the physician's designee, or the health care provider or the provider's designee who has undertaken primary responsibility for an individual's health care. See Alaska Statutes 13.52.390
• surrogate: means an individual, other than a patient's agent or guardian, authorized under this chapter to make a health care decision for the patient. See Alaska Statutes 13.52.390
• terminal condition: means an incurable or irreversible illness or injury
  (A) that without administration of life-sustaining procedures will result in death in a short period of time. See Alaska Statutes 13.52.390
• Trial: A hearing that takes place when the defendant pleads "not guilty" and witnesses are required to come to court to give evidence.
• wholesale: means sale by a manufacturer, wholesale dealer, distributor, or jobber to a person who sells, or intends to sell, directly to the user. See Alaska Statutes 08.80.480
• writing: includes printing. See Alaska Statutes 01.10.060