(a) Blood means whole blood collected from a single donor and processed either for transfusion or further manufacturing.

(b) Blood component means that part of blood separated by physical or mechanical means.

(c) Drug sample means a unit of a prescription drug that is not intended to be sold and is intended to promote the sale of the drug.

(d) Manufacturer means anyone who is engaged in manufacturing, preparing, propagating, compounding, processing, packaging, repackaging, or labeling of a prescription drug.

(e) Prescription drug means any human drug required by Federal law or regulation to be dispensed only by a prescription, including finished dosage forms and active ingredients subject to section 503(b) of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act.

(f) Wholesale distribution and wholesale distribution means distribution of prescription drugs to persons other than a consumer or patient, but does not include:

(1) Intracompany sales;

(2) The purchase or other acquisition by a hospital or other health care entity that is a member of a group purchasing organization of a drug for its own use from the group purchasing organization or from other hospitals or health care entities that are members of such organizations;

(3) The sale, purchase, or trade of a drug or an offer to sell, purchase, or trade a drug by a charitable organization described in section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954 to a nonprofit affiliate of the organization to the extent otherwise permitted by law;

(4) The sale, purchase, or trade of a drug or an offer to sell, purchase, or trade a drug among hospitals or other health care entities that are under common control; for purposes of this section, common control means the power to direct or cause the direction of the management and policies of a person or an organization, whether by ownership of stock, voting rights, by contract, or otherwise;

(5) The sale, purchase, or trade of a drug or an offer to sell, purchase, or trade a drug for emergency medical reasons; for purposes of this section, emergency medical reasons includes transfers of prescription drugs by a retail pharmacy to another retail pharmacy to alleviate a temporary shortage;

(6) The sale, purchase, or trade of a drug, an offer to sell, purchase, or trade a drug, or the dispensing of a drug pursuant to a prescription;

(7) The distribution of drug samples by manufacturers' representatives or distributors' representatives; or

(8) The sale, purchase, or trade of blood and blood components intended for transfusion.

(9) Drug returns, when conducted by a hospital, health care entity, or charitable institution in accordance with §203.23 of this chapter; or

(10) The sale of minimal quantities of drugs by retail pharmacies to licensed practitioners for office use.

(g) Wholesale distributor means any one engaged in wholesale distribution of prescription drugs, including, but not limited to, manufacturers; repackers; own-label distributors; private-label distributors; jobbers; brokers; warehouses, including manufacturers' and distributors' warehouses, chain drug warehouses, and wholesale drug warehouses; independent wholesale drug traders; and retail pharmacies that conduct wholesale distributions.

(h) Health care entity means any person that provides diagnostic, medical, surgical, or dental treatment, or chronic or rehabilitative care, but does not include any retail pharmacy or any wholesale distributor. Except as provided in §203.22(h) and (i) of this chapter, a person cannot simultaneously be a “health care entity” and a retail pharmacy or wholesale distributor.

[55 FR 38023, Sept. 14, 1990, as amended at 64 FR 67762, Dec. 3, 1999, 73 FR 59501, Oct. 9, 2008]