Rare disciplinary case against Pa. doctor offers glimpse into big business of medical marijuana cards

[Agast]

Rare disciplinary case against Pa. doctor offers glimpse into big business of medical marijuana cards

Interesting article. A patient with some medical background signs up for a telemedicine visit to discuss medical marijuana, feels the experience is lacking appropriate medical work up and files a complaint against the doctor with the medical board. She did get the marijuana card but felt the process was shady, thus the complaint.

Some of her concerns seem more related to the limitations of telemedicine, though. If her complaints are successful it would imply that most medical visits cannot be done via telemedicine. The part that smells like a kickback to the doctor is not under review nor is the company that facilitates the cards. They are basically saying if you have a poor video connection and the patient does not upload their files, you do not have a legitimate visit even if you interview the patient.

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[Analgesia108]

The law apparently requires ' a thorough physical examination' - can it be accomplished via telemedicine?

 

[Baron Samedi]

During peak COVID we were forced to do telemedicine for clinic appts had the option to continue even once things opened back up. I absolutely hated it and went back to 100% face-to-face as soon as I was able to. Those telehealth visits felt like a waste of time and I felt like a candy dispenser more than a physician.

Face-to-face at least forces the patient to get out of bed and go to the office to at least have some initiative of self-care. The amount of times I called a patient after 10am and they were still obviously in bed was staggering.

 

[wendalltwolf]

Apparently there's many telemedicine lawsuits in the queue, mainly for failure to diagnose. The only thing delaying them is that liability attorneys don't know how to value the claims. I'll be sticking with in-person visits.