B. Stanberry, THE LEGAL AND ETHICAL ASPECTS OF TELEMEDICINE - 3 - TELEMEDICINE AND MALPRACTICE, Journal of telemedicine and telecare, 4(2), 1998, pp. 72-79
This paper reviews the difficulties raised by the need to obtain valid
consent from telemedicine patients to the treatment that they receive
and evaluates the legal principles that the courts will apply to an a
llegation of negligence brought against a teleconsultant or telemedici
ne service by a patient. While many of the processes that take place d
uring a telemedical consultation will be unique, it is suggested that
the legal principles that apply to the conventional, face-to-face, doc
tor-patient relationship are equally as valid in the context of the pr
actice of medicine at a distance.