Title 5
Businesses and Professions

Chapter 37.5
Lyme Disease Diagnosis and Treatment

R.I. Gen. Laws § 5-37.5-4

§ 5-37.5-4. Long-term antibiotic treatment.

(a) A physician may prescribe, administer, or dispense antibiotic therapy for therapeutic purpose to a person diagnosed with and having symptoms of Lyme disease if this diagnosis and treatment plan has been documented in the physician’s medical record for that patient. No physician is subject to disciplinary action by the board solely for prescribing, administering, or dispensing long-term antibiotic therapy for a therapeutic purpose for a patient clinically diagnosed with Lyme disease, if this diagnosis and treatment plan has been documented in the physician’s medical record for that patient.

(b) Nothing in this section shall deny the right of the board to deny, revoke, or suspend the license of any physician or discipline any physician who prescribes, administers, or dispenses long-term antibiotic therapy for a nontherapeutic purpose, or who fails to monitor the ongoing care of a patient receiving long-term antibiotic therapy, or who fails to keep complete and accurate ongoing records of the diagnosis and treatment of a patient receiving long-term antibiotic therapy.

History of Section.
P.L. 2002, ch. 159, § 1; P.L. 2002, ch. 160, § 1.