§ 90-1.1.  Definitions.

The following definitions apply in this Article:

(1) Board. - The North Carolina Medical Board.

(2) Hearing officer. - Any current or past member of the Board who is a physician, physician assistant, or nurse practitioner and has an active license or approval to practice medical acts, tasks, or functions issued by the Board, or any current or retired judge of the Office of Administrative Hearings, a State district court, a State superior court, the North Carolina Court of Appeals, the North Carolina Supreme Court, or of the federal judiciary who has an active license to practice law in North Carolina and who is a member in good standing of the North Carolina State Bar.

(2a) Inactive license. - A license that no longer grants the authorization to perform medical acts, tasks, or functions. A license can become inactive upon a licensee's request, a licensee's failure to register annually, a licensee's voluntary surrender, or based on any disciplinary order issued by the Board.

(3) Integrative medicine. - A diagnostic or therapeutic treatment that may not be considered a conventionally accepted medical treatment and that a licensed physician in the physician's professional opinion believes may be of potential benefit to the patient, so long as the treatment poses no greater risk of harm to the patient than the comparable conventional treatments.

(4) License. - An authorization issued by the Board to a physician, physician assistant, or anesthesiologist assistant to perform medical acts, tasks, or functions.

(4a) Licensee. - Any person issued a license by the Board, whether the license is active or inactive, including an inactive license by means of surrender.

(4b) Reserved.

(4c) Modality. - A method of medical treatment.

(5) The practice of medicine or surgery. - Except as otherwise provided by this subdivision, the practice of medicine or surgery, for purposes of this Article, includes any of the following acts:

a. Advertising, holding out to the public, or representing in any manner that the individual is authorized to practice medicine in this State.

b. Offering or undertaking to prescribe, order, give, or administer any drug or medicine for the use of any other individual.

c. Offering or undertaking to prevent or diagnose, correct, prescribe for, administer to, or treat in any manner or by any means, methods, or devices any disease, illness, pain, wound, fracture, infirmity, defect, or abnormal physical or mental condition of any individual, including the management of pregnancy or parturition.

d. Offering or undertaking to perform any surgical procedure on any individual.

e. Using the designation "Doctor," "Doctor of Medicine," "Doctor of Osteopathy," "Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine," "Physician," "Surgeon," "Physician and Surgeon," "Dr.," "M.D.," "D.O.," or any combination thereof in the conduct of any occupation or profession pertaining to the prevention, diagnosis, or treatment of human disease or condition, unless the designation additionally contains the description of or reference to another branch of the healing arts for which the individual holds a valid license in this State or the use of the designation "Doctor" or "Physician" is otherwise specifically permitted by law.

f. The performance of any act, within or without this State, described in this subdivision by use of any electronic or other means, including the Internet or telephone.

The administration of required lethal substances or any assistance whatsoever rendered with an execution under Article 19 of Chapter 15 of the General Statutes does not constitute the practice of medicine or surgery. (2007-346, s. 1; 2009-558, s. 1.1; 2013-154, s. 1(b); 2019-191, s. 1.)