The Rise of Telemedicine Malpractice: What You Need to Know
January 8, 2026
Telemedicine providers are bound by the exact same standard of care as in-person physicians. If a doctor fails to diagnose a treatable condition because they relied on a video feed rather than a necessary physical exam, they may be held liable for medical malpractice. The convenience of a virtual visit does not give them a license to be negligent.
The use of telehealth has exploded, especially since the COVID-19 pandemic. While this shift improved access to healthcare, it also brought a spike in dangerous diagnostic errors. A virtual visit simply cannot replicate the information a doctor gains from a physical examination.
The team at Wapner Newman handles difficult medical injury claims in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. We understand the specific nuances of digital health liability and how to hold providers accountable, regardless of the platform they use.
If you have a question about a misdiagnosis or injury resulting from a telehealth visit, call us today for a no-obligation, free consultation.
Key Takeaways for Telemedicine Malpractice
- The standard of care is the same for virtual and in-person medicine. This means a doctor may not use the limitations of technology as an excuse for providing substandard care that leads to patient harm.
- Diagnostic errors are the most common form of telehealth malpractice. The inability to perform a physical exam frequently leads to missed diagnoses for serious conditions like cancer, stroke, and sepsis.
- Legal complexities do not prevent you from filing a claim. A user agreement does not waive your right to competent care, and specific laws govern which state’s rules apply when a doctor is in a different location.
The Physical Exam Deficit: Why Telehealth Diagnosis Fails
The fundamental weakness of many telehealth encounters is the physical exam deficit, the gap between what a doctor sees on a screen and what they would learn by physically examining you. This gap is a primary driver of serious medical errors.
Research into telehealth-related malpractice claims reveals a disturbing pattern: diagnostic errors are the most significant category of claims. The conditions most commonly missed through a screen are among the most serious: cancer, stroke, and life-threatening infections.
How Diagnostic Failures Happen Virtually
A doctor cannot feel a lump, listen to the quality of a heart murmur, or assess the rigidity of a patient’s abdomen through a webcam. This limitation is at the heart of many telehealth tragedies. Consider these common, high-stakes scenarios:
- Heartburn vs. Heart Attack: You describe chest pain over a video call. Without the ability to perform an EKG or order immediate blood tests to check for cardiac enzymes, a remote doctor might dismiss it as acid reflux. By the time the true cause, a heart attack, is discovered, irreversible damage to the heart muscle may have occurred.
- Pediatric Sepsis: A concerned parent shows a doctor their child’s rash through a smartphone camera. The doctor, unable to feel the texture or temperature of the skin, might diagnose it as a common virus. They may miss the subtle signs of sepsis, a life-threatening condition that requires immediate emergency intervention.
In both of these examples, a proper in-person exam could have made all the difference. If a provider cannot definitively rule out a life-threatening condition using the technology available, their duty is to direct you to an emergency room or an in-person clinic immediately. A failure to make that referral is a breach of that duty and a primary basis for a telemedicine malpractice claim.
The Legal Fiction of Virtual Care Standards in Pennsylvania and New Jersey
You might assume that the law gives doctors a break, that the standard of care is somehow lower because of the inherent limitations of a video call. This is not the case. Legally, the virtual nature of the appointment still upholds the same professional standards as if they were in the room with you.
Standard of Care Equivalence is the Law
Both Pennsylvania and New Jersey have made it clear that telehealth services must meet the same standard of care as in-person services.
The law effectively ignores the technological limitations. Thus, a doctor cannot use “the video quality was poor” or “I couldn’t physically touch the patient” as an excuse for a misdiagnosis. If the technology was insufficient for them to do their job properly, then they were negligent for attempting to diagnose and treat you remotely in the first place.
Informed Consent Is Not a Waiver for Negligence
Before your video call, you almost certainly clicked “I Agree” on a lengthy terms of service document. These documents typically include language about the risks and limitations of telemedicine. However, you must understand what you are, and are not, agreeing to.
You are consenting to use the platform and acknowledging the inherent technological risks, like a dropped call or a data breach, not signing away your right to competent medical care. A waiver or consent form can never absolve a doctor of their professional duty to meet the standard of care.
- The bottom line: If a reasonably competent physician, under the same circumstances, would have sent you to the ER, but your telehealth doctor failed to do so, there may be a valid claim for telemedicine malpractice.
Technology Failures and Systemic Negligence
Sometimes, the medical error is not solely the fault of the doctor on your screen. The technology platforms and the corporate systems behind them might also contribute to patient harm. In these cases, liability may extend beyond the individual provider to the company that designed or implemented the telehealth system.
The Dangers of Disconnected Digital Systems
Electronic Health Records (EHRs) are supposed to make medicine safer, but they also introduce new risks:
- Copy-Paste Errors: A provider, rushing through a virtual appointment, might copy and paste outdated information from a previous patient’s file into yours, leading to a diagnosis based on incorrect history.
- Alarm Fatigue: EHR systems generate countless alerts. A remote provider, desensitized to these warnings, might click past a notification about a dangerous drug interaction.
- Fragmented Records: If your telehealth provider’s system is not integrated with your primary care physician’s records, they may prescribe a new medication without knowing it could have a severe interaction with one of your existing prescriptions.
When the System Itself Fails
Communication breakdowns are a known risk in virtual care. A poor internet connection could cause a call to drop during a critical moment, or a low-resolution image might prevent a dermatologist from accurately identifying a cancerous lesion. Beyond these glitches, the design of the telehealth platform itself could be negligent.
For example, what if the platform uses an algorithm to triage patients? If that software is poorly designed and directs a patient showing clear stroke symptoms into a wait-and-see queue instead of triggering an immediate 911 alert, the company behind the app could share liability for the resulting harm.
If you suspect a technological failure contributed to your injury, have your case evaluated by a qualified legal professional.
Jurisdictional Nightmares: When the Doctor is Out of State
One of the most confusing aspects of telemedicine malpractice involves jurisdiction. It is a common scenario: you are in your Philadelphia home, but the doctor on your screen is working from an office in Texas. If that doctor makes a mistake, which state’s laws apply? Where do you file a lawsuit?
The general rule is that a healthcare provider must be licensed in the state where the patient is physically located at the time of the virtual visit. Practicing medicine across state lines without the proper license is illegal, and, if it occurred, would be an additional factor in your case.
The Ryan Haight Act and Prescribing Controlled Substances
Federal law also plays a role, particularly when it comes to prescriptions. The Ryan Haight Act of 2008 was enacted to regulate online pharmacies and generally requires an in-person medical evaluation before a provider can prescribe controlled substances.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) issued temporary flexibilities, allowing providers to prescribe these medications via telehealth without a prior in-person visit. These flexibilities have been extended, but the legal landscape remains complicated. Improperly prescribing powerful medications like opioids or stimulants via a telehealth platform is a significant and growing area of liability for providers.
What to Do From Home After a Telehealth Error
If you believe you have been harmed by a telemedicine provider, the steps you take immediately afterward help preserve your right to seek compensation. Here is what you can do from home:
- Do Not Delete the App or Your Account. Your first instinct might be to delete the telehealth app in frustration. Resist this urge. The app contains a digital footprint of your interactions, which is valuable evidence.
- Secure the Digital Paper Trail.
- Take Screenshots: Capture images of your call log, the duration of the video call (which can prove a doctor only spent a few minutes on a complicated issue), and any text-based chat messages with the provider.
- Download Your Summary: Most patient portals offer an After Visit Summary. Download and save a copy immediately, before the provider has a chance to go back and amend their notes.
- Create a Symptom Timeline. On a piece of paper or in a document, write down a detailed timeline. Note the date of the call, the symptoms you described to the provider on camera, and how those symptoms compare to what the doctor wrote in the visit summary. Any discrepancies could be key to proving what really happened.
- Review the Informed Consent Document. Find and save a copy of the terms and conditions you agreed to before the call began. This document may be important in understanding the legal relationship between you, the provider, and the telehealth company.
FAQ for Telemedicine Malpractice
Does audio-only telehealth carry different risks?
Yes, removing the video component significantly increases the risk of a misdiagnosis, as the provider has even less information to work with. However, the legal standard remains the same. The doctor must still provide care that meets the accepted standard or refuse to treat if an audio-only call is insufficient to do so safely.
What is the statute of limitations for a telemedicine lawsuit in PA?
In Pennsylvania, you generally have two years to file a medical malpractice lawsuit. This clock typically starts from the date the injury occurred or the date you reasonably should have discovered the injury. With telemedicine, the discovery of the harm, like a missed cancer diagnosis, might happen months after the video call.
I signed a waiver before the video call; did I sign away my rights?
No. You cannot prospectively waive your right to receive competent medical care. These waivers typically cover things like data privacy, technological failures, and the inherent limitations of virtual care, but they do not protect a doctor from being held accountable for negligence.
Can I sue the app/platform, or just the doctor?
It depends on the facts of the case. If the telehealth platform’s own software, such as a faulty diagnostic or triage algorithm contributed to the error, the company may also be liable. Likewise, if the platform failed to properly verify a doctor’s credentials, they could share in the responsibility.
Virtual Care Demands Real Accountability
You may feel intimidated by the thought of pursuing a claim against a large, tech-backed medical corporation or a doctor you have never met. You might even worry that because the negligence happened online, your claim is less valid.
But negligence is negligence. If a provider chose their convenience over your safety and caused you harm, the medium through which they delivered that substandard care is irrelevant to your right to pursue justice.
At Wapner Newman, we have the resources and experience to investigate the digital trails, untangle cross-state licensing issues, and establish breaches in the standard of care that lead to patient harm.
Contact us today by calling our office or filling out our online form to discuss your situation. Let us help you determine the next steps toward real accountability.