Cyber-malpractice: Legal exposure for cybermedicine

American Journal of Law and Medicine

Volumn 25, Issue 2-3, 1999, Pages 327-366

  Terry, Nicolas P ^a  

^a NONE

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

CYBERNETICS; GEOGRAPHY; LEARNING; LEGAL ASPECT; MALPRACTICE; MANAGED CARE; MEDICAL INFORMATION; MEDICAL LIABILITY; MEDICAL PRACTICE; NEGLIGENCE; PRESCRIPTION; REVIEW; TELECOMMUNICATION;

DRUG INDUSTRY; HEALTH CARE SECTOR; HEALTH EDUCATION; HUMANS; INFORMATION SERVICES; INTERNET; LIABILITY, LEGAL; MALPRACTICE; TELEMEDICINE; UNITED STATES;

EID: 0032779235     PISSN: 00988588     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: None     Document Type: Review

References (14)

1. For the classic exposition on virtual space or cyberspace, see Mitchell Kapor & John Perry Barlow, Across the Electronic Frontier (Electronic Frontier Foundation, Washington D.C.), July 10, 1990 (visited Apr. 20, 1999) 〈http://www.eff.org/pub/Publications/John_Perry_Barlow/ electronic_frontier.eff〉. Real space is used in this Article as the antonym to cyberspace, signifying the physical world.
2. See Daniel McCarthy, The Virtual Health Economy: Telemedicine and the Supply of Primary Care Physicians in Rural America, 21 AM. J.L. & MED. 111, 112 (1995).
3. See id. at 112-16. For example, California has defined telemedicine as "[t]he practice of health care delivery, diagnosis, consultation, treatment, transfer of medical data, and education using interactive audio, video, or data communications. Neither a telephone conversation nor an electronic mail message between a health care practitioner and patient constitutes 'telemedicine' for purposes of this section." Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code 2290.5(a)(1) (West 1999).
4. Cf. Helen Leskovac, Distance Learning in Legal Education: Implications of Frame Relay Videoconferencing, 8 ALB. L.J. SCI. & TECH. 305 (1998) (discussing distance learning as applied to legal education).
5. For examples of federal and state regulation of telemedicine, see CAL. HEALTH & SAFETY CODE § 1374.13 (1999) (recognizing telemedicine as a legitimate means of receiving medical care by defining and regulating payment for telemedicine under Medi-Cal). See generally Christina M. Rackett, Telemedicine Today and Tomorrow: Why "Virtual" Privacy is Not Enough, 25 FORDHAM URB. L.J. 167, 183-90 (1997) (discussing existing federal telemedicine legislation and proposing changes). Cf. Metpath, Inc. v. Myers, 462 F. Supp. 1104, 1108-13 (N.D. Cal. 1978) (examining the constitutionality of a California regulatory statute authorizing the state to revoke or suspend the license of a clinical
6. For examples of federal and state regulation of telemedicine, see CAL. HEALTH & SAFETY CODE § 1374.13 (1999) (recognizing telemedicine as a legitimate means of receiving medical care by defining and regulating payment for telemedicine under Medi-Cal). See generally Christina M. Rackett, Telemedicine Today and Tomorrow: Why "Virtual" Privacy is Not Enough, 25 FORDHAM URB. L.J. 167, 183-90 (1997) (discussing existing federal telemedicine legislation and proposing changes). Cf. Metpath, Inc. v. Myers, 462 F. Supp. 1104, 1108-13 (N.D. Cal. 1978) (examining the constitutionality of a California regulatory statute authorizing the state to revoke or suspend the license of a clinical
7. CyberPharmacy (visited Jan. 25, 1999) 〈http://www.cyberpharmacy.com/content/ new_prescription.htm〉. Of course, we already have some real space quasi-integrated services in, for example, retail ophthalmology and optometry. See, e.g., The LensCrafters Eye Exam Advantage (visited Feb. 5, 1999) 〈http://www.lenscrafters.com/eyecare/buyglasses/lensexam.html〉 (stating that "Located next to every LensCrafters is an affiliated Licensed Doctor of Optometry.").
8. CyberPharmacy (visited Jan. 25, 1999) 〈http://www.cyberpharmacy.com/content/ new_prescription.htm〉. Of course, we already have some real space quasi-integrated services in, for example, retail ophthalmology and optometry. See, e.g., The LensCrafters Eye Exam Advantage (visited Feb. 5, 1999) 〈http://www.lenscrafters.com/eyecare/buyglasses/lensexam.html〉 (stating that "Located next to every LensCrafters is an affiliated Licensed Doctor of Optometry.").
9. See, e.g., American Library Ass'n v. Pataki, 969 F. Supp. 160, 161 (S.D.N.Y. 1997) (stating that "[n]ot surprisingly, much of the legal analysis of Internet-related issues has focused on seeking a familiar analogy for the unfamiliar").
10. See, e.g., Johnson v. Kokemoor, 545 N.W.2d 495 (Wis. 1996) (alleging the physician failed to obtain the plaintiff's informed consent for surgery).
11. I ignore what I view as "false" cybertorts, such as the real space battery of the plaintiff whom the defendant first met some months earlier in a cyberspace chat room. See Man Receives 40 Years in Killing That He Mentioned Online, N.Y. TIMES, Oct. 9, 1998, at A17 (visited Feb. 5, 1999) 〈http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/98/10/biztech/articles/10confession. html〉.
12. See Robert P. Merges, The End of Friction? Property Rights and Contract in the "Newtonian" World of On-Line Commerce, 12 BERKELEY TECH. L.J. 115, 116-17 (1997) (comparing conventional transaction costs to the costs generated through online transactions).
13. See id.
14. Hilary Bower, Open Wide and Say Ah, THE GUARDIAN (London), Jan. 12, 1999, at 14, available in LEXIS, News Library, GUARDN file (quoting Lynne McTaggart).