Summary
Objectives: This study aims to emphasize legal pitfalls, especially the often underestimated
liability issues for both clients of telemedicine and “tele-doctors”. The main relevance
of telemedicine lies in its capability to link medical practitioners and remote hospitals
to larger or specialized facilities in a very fast electronic manner. This may become
even more important due to current increases in subspecialization and the demand for
more precise diagnosis and consultation in difficult cases. However, every potential
user or client of telemedicine should keep in mind that several questions of law are
involved.
Methods: In this paper, two case studies representative of practical teleneuropathology scenarios
are described. The assessment of the legal implications is focused on the personal
liability of the teleneuropathologist.
Results: The far-reaching personal liability of the teleneuropathologist can lead to situations
in which neither the insurance of the hospital nor the private professional liability
insurance could be called on to refund possible damages for health impairments of
a patient.
Conclusions: In Germany, a contractual exclusion of liability in health matters is not admissible.
With regard to the European situation, international agreements such as a European
telemedicine law could be conducive to the future border-crossing development of telemedicine
though, to date, the legal competencies remain with the single member countries of
the European Community.
Keywords
Telemedicine - teleneuropathology - legal issues - liability
