Annabel Laura WolfTelemedizin im Rechtsvergleich

About this book deutschenglish

The thesis provides a broad overview of legal problems that may arise in connection with telemedicine. What are the legal hurdles that remote treatments face? Is there a need for fundamental reform of the legal framework to meet the requirements of telemedicine, or does the existing framework already provide sufficient tools to appropriately deal with issues arising in the context of telemedicine?

The book addresses these questions and takes a look at the legal systems of Germany, Austria, the USA, and Sweden. The focus lies on the phenomena of remote treatment and telesurgeries.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, remote treatments experienced an immense boom. Although the pandemic is a global problem, national responses have varied strongly. This is also reflected in the question of whether exclusive remote treatments are permissible, which is seen very differently across the legal systems examined. The study of the permissibility of exclusive remote treatments in the different countries concludes with a comparison of the legal cultures and, on this basis, provides an explanation for the different approaches.

Furthermore, it is analysed whether there is a need for a specific medical standard of care for remote treatments and, if so, whether such a standard already exists and how it should ideally be designed. In this context, special features that exist in the physician’s duty to inform in the case of remote treatments and telesurgeries are also evaluated.

In addition, the work addresses the question of whether telemedicine requires “special treatment” in liability law. Moreover, the work deals with aspects regarding the advertisement of remote treatments and telesurgeries. Finally, due to the high practical relevance, issues of cross-border telemedicine are also examined, including questions relating to international law, European law and international private law.

Technology, wars, and pandemics are strong catalysts driving the liberalisation of telemedicine. In the future, telemedicine will make further progress and will be applied in new areas. A synopsis and critical analysis of the legal approaches of different jurisdictions helps to ensure that telemedicine is accompanied by an appropriate and balanced legal framework.