For the purpose of this chapter:

(1)  “Client” means the owner or caretaker of animal(s) who arranges for their veterinary care.

(2)  “Director” means the director of the department of health.

(3)  “Distributor” means and includes “manufacturers,” “wholesalers,” “veterinarians,” “pharmacists,” and “veterinary drug retailers.”

(4)  “Enforcement agency” means the department of health having responsibility for enforcing this chapter.

(5)  “Extra-label use” means the actual or intended use of a human or veterinary drug in a food-producing animal in a manner that is not in accordance with the drug’s labeling.

(6)  “Manufacturer” means a person engaged in the production, preparation, propagation, compounding, or processing of a drug or other substance or the packaging or repackaging of the substance, or the labeling or re-labeling of the commercial container of that substance, but does not include the activities of a veterinarian or pharmacist who, as an incident to the administration or dispensing of the substance in the course of professional practice, prepares, compounds, packages, or labels the substance.

(7)  “Patient” means any animal in which a prescription veterinary drug is used or intended to be used.

(8)  “Person” means any individual, or a firm, partnership, company, corporation, trustee, association, agency, or any other public or private entity.

(9)  “Pharmacist” means an individual with a currently valid license issued by the state of Rhode Island to practice pharmacy.

(10)  “Prescription” means an order from a veterinarian to a pharmacist authorizing the dispensing of a prescription veterinary drug to a client for use on or in a patient.

(11)  “Prescription drug” means a veterinary drug which, because of toxicity or other potential for harmful effect, or the method of its use, is not safe for use except under the supervision of a veterinarian, and is required by federal law to be labeled with the statement: “Caution: Federal law restricts this drug to use by or on the order of a licensed veterinarian”; and those veterinary drugs required by state law to be dispensed only upon order or prescription of a licensed veterinarian.

(12)  “Veterinarian” means an individual with a currently valid license issued by the state of Rhode Island to practice veterinary medicine and who is exempted from the permit provisions of § 21-31.1-4.

(13)  “Veterinarian-client/patient relationship” means a relationship where all of the following conditions have been met:

(i)  The veterinarian has assumed the responsibility for making medical judgments regarding the health of the animal(s) and the need for medical treatment, and the client has agreed to follow the instructions of the veterinarian.

(ii)  The veterinarian has sufficient knowledge of the animal(s) to initiate at least a general or preliminary (e.g. tentative) diagnosis of the medical condition of the animal(s). This means that the veterinarian has recently seen and is personally acquainted with the keeping and care of the animal(s), and/or by medically appropriate and timely visits to the premises where the animal(s) are kept.

(iii)  The veterinarian is readily available for follow-up in case of adverse reactions or failure of the regimen of therapy.

(iv)  The veterinarian maintains records that document patient visits, diagnosis, treatment, and other relevant information.

(14)  “Veterinary drug” means: (i) articles for animal use recognized in the official United States Pharmacopoeia/National Formulary of the United States; (ii) articles intended for use in the diagnosis, cure, mitigation, treatment, or prevention of disease in animals; (iii) articles (other than feed or medicated feed) intended to affect the structure or any function of the body of animals; and (iv) articles intended for use of a component of any article in paragraph (i), (ii) or (iii) of this subdivision; but does not include devices or their components, parts or accessories.

(15)  “Veterinary drug retailer” means and includes every person, authorized by law, other than a veterinarian or a pharmacist, who delivers a non-prescription veterinary drug to a client or a client’s agent.

(16)  “Wholesaler” means a person who acts as a wholesale merchant, jobber, or agent, who sells for resale, or negotiates for distribution (other than to the consumer or patient) of any veterinary drug.