What the rise of telemedicine means for Canada’s legal system

THE CONVERSATION, 18/02/2021

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Beesens TEAM

What the rise of telemedicine means for Canada’s legal system

Article également disponible en français à l'adresse : https://theconversation.com/essor-de-la-telesante-le-cadre-juridique-canadien-est-il-a-la-hauteur-152957

"The current pandemic is a tremendous boost for telemedicine, as many health-care professionals are strongly encouraged to offer online consultations or have no choice but to do so. But even before the pandemic, there was already a growing trend towards the use of teleconsultation, driven in part by various commercial initiatives such as Maple or Teladoc.

However, there is some legal uncertainty surrounding this practice, raising questions for patients, professionals and regulators alike.

For example, Amazon announced last November it will offer an online pharmacy in the United States and indicated it had been successful in obtaining pharmacy licences in most American states where drugs would be delivered to consumers.

This initiative does not currently target the Canadian market, but there are questions about what would happen if it did. Should Amazon be required to be licensed in every province and territory where it wants to sell its products? Determining an answer to this question reveals the limitations of the Canadian legal framework for telemedicine.

As someone who has been involved for more than 20 years in various academic and professional activities related to health law and policy — including the regulation of professions — I’ve been looking at the regulatory issues of telemedicine for the past few years..." Lire la suite