Legal Pitfalls in Teleneuropathology

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 im-portant due to current increases in subspecialization and the demand for more precise diagnosis and con-sultation 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 represen-tative of practical teleneuropathology scenarios are described. The assessment of the legal implications is focused on the personal liability of the teleneuropa-thologist. 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 agree-ments such as a European telemedicine law could be conducive to the future border-crossing development of telemedicine though, to date, the legal competen-cies remain with the single member countries of the European Community.