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Texas battle with telemedicine

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Teladoc, the telemedicine company, reaches 11 million people in America.

But, reports MedPage Today, “new rules from the Texas Medical Board could make it a lot harder for people…to get antibiotics through the service. In response to the board’s restrictions, Teladoc has filed a lawsuit that accuses the medical board of artificially limiting supply and increasing prices.

“The rules, as they’re written today, only allow a physician who has seen a patient in person to interact with them remotely. That’s basically saying you can’t go shop anywhere else,” the company said.

MedPage Today says “The rules do allow for certain exceptions that would permit a physician to diagnose or prescribe medications via phone or video. It would be OK, for example, if the patient were at a medical clinic, or another healthcare worker  was with the patient and could do a sort of surrogate exam. There’s also exemption for remote mental health visits.”

In any event, many well-established physicians see the likes of Teladoc  as financially threatening in some of the same ways they see retail clinics staffed by physician assistants, nurse practitioners and nurses  — but not physicians —  as threatening.

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