Terms Used In New York Laws > Public Health > Article 2 - The Department of Health

• Advice and consent: Under the Constitution, presidential nominations for executive and judicial posts take effect only when confirmed by the Senate, and international treaties become effective only when the Senate approves them by a two-thirds vote.
• Affidavit: A written statement of facts confirmed by the oath of the party making it, before a notary or officer having authority to administer oaths.
• Affirmed: In the practice of the appellate courts, the decree or order is declared valid and will stand as rendered in the lower court.
• Affordable workforce housing: means housing for individuals and families at or below one hundred thirty percent of the median income for the Nassau-Suffolk primary metropolitan statistical area as defined by the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development. See N.Y. General Municipal Law 699-A
• agency: shall mean a department of housing preservation and development. See N.Y. General Municipal Law 692
• Allegation: something that someone says happened.
• 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.
• Amortization: Paying off a loan by regular installments.
• Answer: The formal written statement by a defendant responding to a civil complaint and setting forth the grounds for defense.
• Appeal: A request made after a trial, asking another court (usually the court of appeals) to decide whether the trial was conducted properly. To make such a request is "to appeal" or "to take an appeal." One who appeals is called the appellant.
• Appellate: About appeals; an appellate court has the power to review the judgement of another lower court or tribunal.
• Appraisal: A determination of property value.
• Appropriation: The provision of funds, through an annual appropriations act or a permanent law, for federal agencies to make payments out of the Treasury for specified purposes. The formal federal spending process consists of two sequential steps: authorization
• Arrest: Taking physical custody of a person by lawful authority.
• Assets: (1) The property comprising the estate of a deceased person, or (2) the property in a trust account.
• Bequest: Property gifted by will.
• Clinical laboratory services: shall mean the microbiological, serological, chemical, hematological, biophysical, cytological or pathological examination of materials derived from the human body, for the purposes of obtaining information for the diagnosis, prevention, or treatment of disease or the assessment of health condition. See N.Y. Public Health Law 238
• Complaint: A written statement by the plaintiff stating the wrongs allegedly committed by the defendant.
• Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
• Conviction: A judgement of guilt against a criminal defendant.
• 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.
• Deed: The legal instrument used to transfer title in real property from one person to another.
• Defendant: In a civil suit, the person complained against; in a criminal case, the person accused of the crime.
• Density bonus: means a density increase of at least ten percent over the otherwise maximum allowable residential density or floor area ratio if part of a mixed-use development under the applicable zoning ordinance and comprehensive plan as of the date of the application by the applicant to the local government. See N.Y. General Municipal Law 699-A
• Deposition: An oral statement made before an officer authorized by law to administer oaths. Such statements are often taken to examine potential witnesses, to obtain discovery, or to be used later in trial.
• Discovery: Lawyers' examination, before trial, of facts and documents in possession of the opponents to help the lawyers prepare for trial.
• Dismissal: The dropping of a case by the judge without further consideration or hearing. ^Source:
• Docket: A log containing brief entries of court proceedings.
• Donor: The person who makes a gift.
• 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}
• 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.
• Ex officio: Literally, by virtue of one's office.
• Fair market value: The price at which an asset would change hands in a transaction between a willing, informed buyer and a willing, informed seller.
• Fair market value: shall mean the value in arms length transactions, consistent with the general market value, and, with respect to rentals or leases, the value of rental property for general commercial purposes, not taking into account its intended use, and, in the case of a lease of space, not adjusted to reflect the additional value the prospective lessee or lessor would attribute to the proximity or convenience to the lessor where the lessor is a potential source of patient referrals to the lessee. See N.Y. Public Health Law 238
• Fee simple: Absolute title to property with no limitations or restrictions regarding the person who may inherit it.
• Financial relationship: shall mean an ownership interest, investment interest or compensation arrangement. See N.Y. Public Health Law 238
• Fiscal year: The fiscal year is the accounting period for the government. For the federal government, this begins on October 1 and ends on September 30. The fiscal year is designated by the calendar year in which it ends; for example, fiscal year 2006 begins on October 1, 2005 and ends on September 30, 2006.
• Foreclosure: A legal process in which property that is collateral or security for a loan may be sold to help repay the loan when the loan is in default. ^{Source: OCC}
• Fraud: Intentional deception resulting in injury to another.
• Gift: A voluntary transfer or conveyance of property without consideration, or for less than full and adequate consideration based on fair market value.
• Group practice: shall mean a group of two or more practitioners organized as a partnership, professional corporation, foundation, not-for-profit corporation, faculty practice plan or similar association; and
  
  (a) in which each practitioner who is a member of the group provides substantially the full range of services which the practitioner routinely provides, including medical care, consultation, diagnosis or treatment, through the joint use of shared office space, facilities, equipment and personnel; and
  
  (b) for which substantially all of the services of the practitioners who are members of the group are provided through the group and are billed in the name of the group and amounts so received are treated as receipts of the group; and
  
  (c) in which the overhead expenses of the income from the practice are distributed in accordance with methods previously determined by members of the group; and
  
  (d) provided, however, in the case of a faculty practice plan associated with a hospital with an approved residency training program in which practitioner members may provide a variety of different specialty services and provide professional services both within and outside the group, as well as perform other tasks such as research, the provisions of paragraphs (a), (b) and (c) of this subdivision shall be applied only with respect to the services provided within the faculty practice plan. See N.Y. Public Health Law 238
• 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.
• Habeas corpus: A writ that is usually used to bring a prisoner before the court to determine the legality of his imprisonment. It may also be used to bring a person in custody before the court to give testimony, or to be prosecuted.
• Health care provider: shall mean a practitioner in an individual practice, group practice, partnership, professional corporation or other authorized form of association, a hospital or other health care institution issued an operating certificate pursuant to this chapter or the mental hygiene law, a certified home health agency or a licensed home care services agency, and any other purveyor of health or health related items or services including but not limited to a clinical laboratory, a physiological laboratory, a pharmacy, a purveyor of x-ray or imaging services, a purveyor of physical therapy services, a purveyor of health or health related supplies, appliances or equipment, or an ambulance service. See N.Y. Public Health Law 238
• Health or health related items or services: shall include , but not be limited to, items and services available under the medical assistance program pursuant to title eleven of Article 5 of the social services law. See N.Y. Public Health Law 238
• Immediate family member: shall include spouse; birth and adoptive parents, children and siblings; stepparents, stepchildren and stepsiblings; fathers-in-law, mothers-in-law, brothers-in-law, sisters-in-law, sons-in-law and daughters-in-law; and grandparents and grandchildren. See N.Y. Public Health Law 238
• Indemnification: In general, a collateral contract or assurance under which one person agrees to secure another person against either anticipated financial losses or potential adverse legal consequences. ^{Source: FDIC}
• Interest rate: The amount paid by a borrower to a lender in exchange for the use of the lender's money for a certain period of time. Interest is paid on loans or on debt instruments, such as notes or bonds, either at regular intervals or as part of a lump sum payment when the issue matures. ^{Source: OCC}
• Interested investor: shall mean , with respect to a health care provider, an investor who is a practitioner in a position to make or to influence referrals or business to the health care provider, or who is an immediate family member of such an investor. See N.Y. Public Health Law 238
• Investor: shall mean , with respect to a health care provider, a person with a financial relationship with the health care provider, subject to the exceptions provided in paragraph (b) of subdivision three, subdivision four and paragraph (b) of subdivision five of section two hundred thirty-eight-a of this title. See N.Y. Public Health Law 238
• Joint resolution: A legislative measure which requires the approval of both chambers.
• 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.
• Lease: A contract transferring the use of property or occupancy of land, space, structures, or equipment in consideration of a payment (e.g., rent). ^{Source: OCC}
• Liabilities: The aggregate of all debts and other legal obligations of a particular person or legal entity.
• Lien: A claim against real or personal property in satisfaction of a debt.
• Majority leader: see Floor Leaders
• Minority leader: See Floor Leaders
• Mortgage: The written agreement pledging property to a creditor as collateral for a loan.
• Mortgagee: The person to whom property is mortgaged and who has loaned the money.
• non-economic loss: includes but is not limited to pain and suffering, mental anguish, loss of consortium or other damages for non-economic loss. See N.Y. Civil Practice Law and Rules 1600
• Oath: A promise to tell the truth.
• Obesity: means the condition in which a person's body mass index is at least thirty kilograms per meter squared, or where a person's body mass index is at least twenty-seven kilograms per meter squared and the person suffers from one or more of the following conditions or diseases:
  
  1. See N.Y. Public Health Law 262
• 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.
• Oral argument: An opportunity for lawyers to summarize their position before the court and also to answer the judges' questions.
• Oversight: Committee review of the activities of a Federal agency or program.
• 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.
• Personal property: All property that is not real property.
• Pharmacy services: shall mean the preparing, compounding, preserving or, the dispensing of drugs, medicines and therapeutic devices on the basis of prescriptions or other legal authority. See N.Y. Public Health Law 238
• Physical therapy services: means physical therapy as defined by § 6731 of the education law. See N.Y. Public Health Law 238
• Plaintiff: The person who files the complaint in a civil lawsuit.
• Pleadings: Written statements of the parties in a civil case of their positions. In the federal courts, the principal pleadings are the complaint and the answer.
• Practitioner: shall mean a licensed or registered physician, dentist, podiatrist, chiropractor, nurse, midwife, physician assistant or specialist assistant, physical therapist, or optometrist. See N.Y. Public Health Law 238
• Precedent: A court decision in an earlier case with facts and law similar to a dispute currently before a court. Precedent will ordinarily govern the decision of a later similar case, unless a party can show that it was wrongly decided or that it differed in some significant way.
• Presiding officer: A majority-party Senator who presides over the Senate and is charged with maintaining order and decorum, recognizing Members to speak, and interpreting the Senate's rules, practices and precedents.
• Probable cause: A reasonable ground for belief that the offender violated a specific law.
• Probation: A sentencing alternative to imprisonment in which the court releases convicted defendants under supervision as long as certain conditions are observed.
• Public health council: shall mean the public health and health planning council. See N.Y. Public Health Law 238
• Public law: A public bill or joint resolution that has passed both chambers and been enacted into law. Public laws have general applicability nationwide.
• Quorum: The number of legislators that must be present to do business.
• Radiation therapy services: shall mean the use of high energy x-rays, particles, or radiation materials for the treatment of cancer and other diseases. See N.Y. Public Health Law 238
• Real property: Land, and all immovable fixtures erected on, growing on, or affixed to the land.
• Recess: A temporary interruption of the legislative business.
• Remainder: An interest in property that takes effect in the future at a specified time or after the occurrence of some event, such as the death of a life tenant.
• Remand: When an appellate court sends a case back to a lower court for further proceedings.
• Rural: shall mean (i) a county with a population of two hundred thousand persons or less, or a town with a population density of one hundred fifty persons or less per square mile; and (ii) other rural areas pursuant to standards promulgated in regulation by the commissioner. See N.Y. Public Health Law 238
• Service of process: The service of writs or summonses to the appropriate party.
• Settlement: Parties to a lawsuit resolve their difference without having a trial. Settlements often involve the payment of compensation by one party in satisfaction of the other party's claims.
• Statute: A law passed by a legislature.
• Subpoena: A command to a witness to appear and give testimony.
• Subpoena duces tecum: A command to a witness to produce documents.
• Summons: Another word for subpoena used by the criminal justice system.
• Testify: Answer questions in court.
• Testimony: Evidence presented orally by witnesses during trials or before grand juries.
• Tort: A civil wrong or breach of a duty to another person, as outlined by law. A very common tort is negligent operation of a motor vehicle that results in property damage and personal injury in an automobile accident.
• Transcript: A written, word-for-word record of what was said, either in a proceeding such as a trial or during some other conversation, as in a transcript of a hearing or oral deposition.
• Trial: A hearing that takes place when the defendant pleads "not guilty" and witnesses are required to come to court to give evidence.
• Trustee: A person or institution holding and administering property in trust.
• Uniform Commercial Code: A set of statutes enacted by the various states to provide consistency among the states' commercial laws. It includes negotiable instruments, sales, stock transfers, trust and warehouse receipts, and bills of lading. ^{Source: OCC}
• Venue: The geographical location in which a case is tried.
• Verdict: The decision of a petit jury or a judge.
• X-ray or imaging services: shall mean diagnostic imaging techniques which shall include but not be limited to the following:
  
  (a) Conventional x-ray or radiology. See N.Y. Public Health Law 238