N.D. Cent. Code § 32-46.2-01 Definitions
32-46.2-01. Definitions
In this chapter, unless the context otherwise requires:
1. "AMA guides" means the "Guides to the Evaluation of Permanent Impairment",
American medical association, (6th edition).
2. "Asbestos action" means the same as that term is defined in section 32-46.1-01.
3. "Asbestosis" means bilateral diffuse interstitial fibrosis of the lungs caused by
inhalation of asbestos fibers.
4. "Board-certified in internal medicine" means a licensed physician who is certified by
the American board of internal medicine or the American osteopathic board of internal
medicine.
5. "Board-certified in occupational medicine" means a licensed physician who is certified
in the specialty of occupational medicine by the American board of preventive
medicine or the specialty of occupational/environmental medicine by the American
osteopathic board of preventive medicine.
6. "Board-certified in oncology" means a licensed physician who is certified in the
subspecialty of medical oncology by the American board of internal medicine or the
American osteopathic board of internal medicine.
7. "Board-certified in pathology" means a licensed physician who holds primary
certification in anatomic pathology or clinical pathology from the American board of
pathology or the American osteopathic board of pathology and whose professional
practice is principally in the field of pathology and involves regular evaluation of
pathology materials obtained from surgical or postmortem specimens.
8. "Board-certified in pulmonary medicine" means a licensed physician who is certified in
the specialty of pulmonary medicine by the American board of internal medicine or the
American osteopathic board of internal medicine.
9. "Certified B-reader" means an individual who is certified as a national institute for
occupational safety and health final or B-reader of x-rays under title 42, Code of
Federal Regulations, part 37.51(b).
10. "Chest x-ray" means chest films taken in accordance with all applicable state and
federal regulatory standards and taken in the posterior-anterior view.
11. "DLCO" means diffusing capacity of the lung for carbon monoxide, which is the
measurement of carbon monoxide transfer from inspired gas to pulmonary capillary
blood.
12. "Exposed individual" means an individual whose exposure to asbestos is the basis for
an asbestos action.
13. "FEV1" means forced expiratory volume in the first second, which is the maximal
volume of air expelled in one second during performance of simple spirometric tests.
14. "FEV1/FVC" means the ratio between the actual values for FEV1 over FVC.
15. "FVC" means forced vital capacity, which is the maximal volume of air expired with
maximum effort from a position of full inspiration.
16. "ILO system" and "ILO scale" mean the radiological ratings and system for the
classification of chest x-rays of the international labour office provided in "Guidelines
for the Use of ILO International Classification of Radiographs of Pneumoconioses"
(2011).
17. "Nonmalignant condition" means any condition that may be caused by asbestos other
than a diagnosed cancer.
18. "Official statements of the American thoracic society" means the lung function testing
standards set forth in the technical standards of the American thoracic society,
including "Standardization of Spirometry" (2019), "Standardisation of the Measurement
of Lung Volumes" (2005), "Standards for Single-breath Carbon Monoxide Uptake in
the Lung" (2017), and "Interpretive Strategies for Lung Function Tests" (2005).
19. "Pathological evidence of asbestosis" means a statement by a board-certified
pathologist that more than one representative section of lung tissue uninvolved with
any other disease process demonstrates a pattern of peribronchiolar or parenchymal
scarring in the presence of characteristic asbestos bodies graded 1(B) or higher under
the criteria published in "Asbestos-Associated Diseases", 106 Archive of Pathology
and Laboratory Medicine 11, Appendix 3 (October 8, 1982).
20. "Plaintiff" means the same as that term is defined in section 32-46.1-01.
21. "Plethysmography" means the test for determining lung volume in which the exposed
individual is enclosed in a chamber equipped to measure pressure, flow, or volume
change.
22. "Predicted lower limit of normal" means the test value that is the calculated standard
convention lying at the fifth percentile, below the upper ninety-five percent of the
reference population, based on age, height, and gender, according to the
recommendations by the American thoracic society and as referenced in the
AMA guides.
23. "Product liability action" means the same as defined in section 28-01.3-01.
24. "Pulmonary function test" means spirometry, lung volume testing, and diffusion
capacity testing, including appropriate measurements, quality control data, and
graphs, performed in accordance with the methods of calibration and techniques
provided in the AMA guides and all standards provided in the official statements of the
American thoracic society.
25. "Qualified physician" means a licensed physician who is board-certified in internal
medicine, pathology, pulmonary medicine, occupational medicine, or oncology, as may
be appropriate to the diagnostic specialty in question, and who:
a. Conducted a physical examination of the exposed individual and has taken a
detailed occupational, exposure, medical, smoking, and social history from the
exposed individual, or if the exposed individual is deceased, has reviewed the
pathology material and has taken a detailed history from the individual most
knowledgeable about the information forming the basis of the asbestos action;
b. Treated or is treating the exposed individual, and has a doctor-patient relationship
with the exposed individual at the time of the physical examination, or in the case
of a board-certified pathologist, examined tissue samples or pathological slides of
the exposed individual at the request of the treating physician;
c. Has not relied on any examinations, tests, radiographs, reports, or opinions of
any doctor, clinic, laboratory, or testing company that performed an examination,
test, radiograph, or screening of the exposed individual in violation of any law,
regulation, licensing requirement, or medical code of practice of the state in which
the examination, test, or screening was conducted; and
d. Prepared or directly supervised the preparation and final review of any medical
report under this chapter.
26. "Radiological evidence of asbestosis" means a quality 1 chest x-ray under the
ILO system, or a quality 2 chest x-ray in a death case when no pathology or quality 1
chest x-ray is available, showing bilateral small, irregular opacities (s, t, or u) occurring
primarily in the lower lung zones graded by a certified B-reader as at least 1/1 on the
ILO scale.
27. "Radiological evidence of diffuse bilateral pleural thickening" means a quality 1 chest
x-ray under the ILO system, or a quality 2 chest x-ray in a death case when no
pathology or quality 1 chest x-ray is available, showing diffuse bilateral pleural
thickening of at least b2 on the ILO scale and blunting of at least one costophrenic
angle as classified by a certified B-reader.
28. "Spirometry" means a test of air capacity of the lung through a spirometer to measure
the volume of air inspired and expired.
29. "Supporting test results" means B-reading and B-reader reports, reports of x-ray
examinations, diagnostic imaging of the chest, pathology reports, pulmonary function
tests, and all other tests reviewed by the diagnosing physician or a qualified physician
in reaching the physician's conclusions.
30. "Timed gas dilution" means a method for measuring total lung capacity in which the
subject breathes into a spirometer containing a known concentration of an inert and
insoluble gas for a specific time, and the concentration of that inert and insoluble gas
in the lung is compared to the concentration of that type of gas in the spirometer.
31. "Total lung capacity" means the volume of gas contained in the lungs at the end of a
maximal inspiration.