Title 54.1, Professions and Occupations

The Board may promulgate regulations and guidelines for determining the acceptability of courses of study and educational institutions in foreign countries. These regulations and guidelines shall include time limitations within which approval shall be granted or denied and for re…

A. Students enrolled in schools of medicine may (i) participate in preceptorship programs that are a part of the training program of the medical school or (ii) practice in clinics, hospitals, educational institutions, private medical offices, or other health facilities, in a prog…

Subject to such restrictions as the Board, in consultation with the deans of the medical schools of this Commonwealth, may prescribe by regulation, third and fourth year medical students engaged in a course of study approved by the Board may be employed by legally established and…

A. Interns and residents holding temporary licenses may be employed in a legally established and licensed hospital, medical school or other organization operating an approved graduate medical education program when their practice is confined to persons who are bona fide patients …

A. No physician licensed to practice medicine or osteopathy in the Commonwealth shall: 1. Knowingly and willfully, directly or indirectly, share any professional fee received for the provision of health services, as defined in § 54.1-2410, to a patient with another physician lice…

A. No practitioner licensed in accordance with the provisions of this chapter shall charge a fee for anatomic pathology services that is greater than the amount billed to the practitioner for the actual performance of such anatomic pathology services when such services are (i) pe…

No practitioner of the healing arts shall knowingly and willfully solicit or receive any remuneration directly or indirectly, in cash or in kind, in return for referring an individual or individuals to a facility or institution as defined in § 37.2-100 or a hospital as defined in…

A. Any physician-patient relationship that may be created by virtue of an on-call physician or his agent evaluating or treating a patient in the emergency department of a corporation, facility or institution licensed or owned or operated by the Commonwealth to provide health care…

A. The Board shall have authority to promulgate regulations regulating the sale of vitamins or food supplements by any practitioner of the healing arts from the office in which he practices. B. A chiropractor may recommend or direct patients on the use of vitamins, minerals, or f…

Any physician shall have the authority to disclose fully all medical treatment options to patients whether or not such treatment options are (i) experimental or covered services, (ii) services that the health insurer will not authorize, or (iii) the costs of the treatment will be…

A. Any practitioner of the healing arts shall, prior to referral of a patient to any facility or entity engaged in the provision of health-related services, appliances or devices, including but not limited to physical therapy, hearing testing, or sale or fitting of hearing aids o…

A. Any physician who, in good faith, reports the existence, or probable existence, of a mental or physical disability or infirmity in any person licensed or certificated to operate any type of aircraft, or any applicant for a license or certificate to operate any type of aircraft…

Any physician or other person who renders any medical aid or treatment to any person for any wound which such physician or other person knows or has reason to believe is a wound inflicted by a weapon specified in § 18.2-308 and which wound such physician or other person believes …

This chapter shall not be construed to prohibit any duly licensed physician from communicating the identity of any person under age 22 who has a physical or mental disability to appropriate agencies of the Commonwealth or any of its political subdivisions and other information re…

A. Whenever any minor who has been separated from the custody of his parent or guardian is in need of surgical or medical treatment, authority commensurate with that of a parent in like cases is conferred, for the purpose of giving consent to such surgical or medical treatment, a…

When a delay in treatment might adversely affect recovery, a licensed health professional or licensed hospital shall not be subject to liability arising out of a claim based on lack of informed consent or be prohibited from providing surgical, medical or dental treatment to an in…

A. A licensed physician, a physician assistant, an advanced practice registered nurse, or a registered nurse may perform a physical evidence recovery kit examination for a person who is believed to be the victim of a sexual assault and who is incapable of making an informed decis…

A. Consistent with § 54.1-3408.1, a physician may prescribe a dosage of a pain-relieving agent in excess of the recommended dosage upon certifying the medical necessity for the excess dosage in the patient's medical record. Any practitioner who prescribes, dispenses or administer…

Before a physician commences treatment of a patient by in vitro fertilization, gamete intrafallopian tube transfer, or zygote intrafallopian tube transfer, including the administration of drugs for the stimulation or suppression of ovulation prefatory thereto, a disclosure form s…

A. As used in this section, "autonomous nurse practitioner" means a nurse practitioner who is authorized to practice without a practice agreement pursuant to subsection I of § 54.1-2957. B. A person shall be medically and legally dead if: 1. In the opinion of a physician duly aut…

Any of the following persons, in order of priority stated, may authorize and consent to a postmortem examination and autopsy on a decedent's body for the purpose of determining the cause of death of the decedent, for the advancement of medical or dental education and research, or…

The practice of laser hair removal shall be performed by a properly trained person licensed to practice medicine or osteopathic medicine or a physician assistant as authorized pursuant to § 54.1-2952 or an advanced practice registered nurse as authorized pursuant to § 54.1-2957 o…

It shall be lawful for any physician licensed by the Board of Medicine to perform a vasectomy, salpingectomy, or other surgical sexual sterilization procedure on any person 18 years of age or older who has the capacity to give informed consent, when so requested in writing by suc…

It shall be lawful for any physician licensed by the Board of Medicine to perform a vasectomy, salpingectomy, or other surgical sexual sterilization procedure on a person fourteen years of age or older and less than eighteen years of age when: 1. A petition has been filed in the …

It shall be lawful for any physician licensed by the Board of Medicine to perform a vasectomy, salpingectomy, or other surgical sexual sterilization procedure on a person eighteen years of age or older, who does not have the capacity to give informed consent to such an operation,…

A. In order for the circuit court to authorize the sterilization of a person in accordance with § 54.1-2975 or § 54.1-2976, it must be proven by clear and convincing evidence that: 1. There is a need for contraception. The court shall find that the person is engaging in sexual ac…

The court shall report to the State Registrar of Vital Records the authorization of all sterilizations made in accordance with this article.

Subject to the rules of law applicable generally to negligence, no physician licensed by the Board of Medicine shall be either civilly or criminally liable by reason of having performed a vasectomy, salpingectomy, or other surgical sexual sterilization procedure upon any person i…

No provision in this article shall apply to or be construed so as to prevent, control, or regulate the medical or surgical treatment for sound therapeutic reasons of any person in this Commonwealth by a physician licensed by the Board of Medicine, which treatment may require sexu…

The provisions of this article shall be known and may be cited as the "Health Care Decisions Act."

As used in this article: "Advance directive" means (i) a witnessed written document, voluntarily executed by the declarant in accordance with the requirements of § 54.1-2983 or (ii) a witnessed oral statement, made by the declarant subsequent to the time he is diagnosed as suffer…

Any adult capable of making an informed decision may, at any time, make a written advance directive to address any or all forms of health care in the event the declarant is later determined to be incapable of making an informed decision. A written advance directive shall be signe…

An advance directive may authorize an agent to approve participation by the declarant in any health care study approved by an institutional review board pursuant to applicable federal regulations, or by a research review committee pursuant to Chapter 5.1 (§ 32.1-162.16 et seq.) o…

A. Every adult shall be presumed to be capable of making an informed decision unless he is determined to be incapable of making an informed decision in accordance with this article. A determination that a patient is incapable of making an informed decision may apply to a particul…

A. The absence of an advance directive by an adult patient shall not give rise to any presumption as to his intent to consent to or refuse any particular health care. B. The provisions of this article shall not apply to authorization of nontherapeutic sterilization, abortion, or …

An advance directive executed pursuant to this article may, but need not, be in the following form: ADVANCE MEDICAL DIRECTIVE I, __________, willingly and voluntarily make known my wishes in the event that I am incapable of making an informed decision, as follows: I understand th…

A. Except as provided by subsection A1, an advance directive may be revoked at any time by the declarant who is capable of understanding the nature and consequences of his actions (i) by a signed, dated writing; (ii) by physical cancellation or destruction of the advance directiv…

A. On petition of any person to the circuit court of the county or city in which any patient resides or is located for whom health care will be or is currently being provided, continued, withheld, or withdrawn pursuant to this article, the court may enjoin such action upon findin…

A. Whenever a patient is determined to be incapable of making an informed decision and (i) has not made an advance directive in accordance with this article or (ii) has made an advance directive in accordance with this article that does not indicate his wishes with respect to the…

A. If the declarant appoints an agent in an advance directive, that agent shall have (i) the authority to make health care decisions for the declarant as specified in the advance directive if the declarant is determined to be incapable of making an informed decision and (ii) deci…

A. Except as provided in subsection B or C, the provisions of this article shall not authorize providing, continuing, withholding or withdrawing health care if the patient's attending physician knows that such action is protested by the patient. B. A patient's agent may make a he…

An attending physician who refuses to comply with (i) a patient's advance directive or (ii) the health care decision of a patient's agent or (iii) the health care decision of an authorized person pursuant to § 54.1-2986 shall make a reasonable effort to transfer the patient to an…

A. As used in this section: "Health care provider" includes, but is not limited to, qualified emergency medical services personnel. "Person authorized to consent on the patient's behalf" means any person authorized by law to consent on behalf of the patient incapable of making an…

A health care facility, physician or other person acting under the direction of a physician shall not be subject to criminal prosecution or civil liability or be deemed to have engaged in unprofessional conduct as a result of issuing a Durable Do Not Resuscitate Order or the prov…

A. The distribution of written advance directives in a form meeting the requirements of § 54.1-2984 and the provision of technical advice, consultation, and assistance to persons with regard to the completion and execution of such forms by (i) health care providers, including the…

A. Any person who willfully (i) conceals, cancels, defaces, obliterates, or damages the advance directive or Durable Do Not Resuscitate Order of another without the declarant's or patient's consent or the consent of the person authorized to consent for the patient; (ii) falsifies…