Ethical and legal risks of telemedicine

Although telemedicine aims to improve access to healthcare, particularly for underserved populations, ethical and legal risks exist. Reports from the World Health Organization provide key information, but the literature lacks in-depth exploration of ethical issues and up-to-date data from low- and middle-income countries, with only 2% of studies in 2020 focusing on these regions. This study is a review of 45 articles on the ethical and legal risks of telemedicine, 29% of which are from middle-income countries. The articles highlighted ethical concerns such as autonomy and equity. Legal risks included lack of regulations, patient safety and quality of care. This study concludes that the expansion of telemedicine is essential to address inequalities in healthcare, but its implementation must be ethical, legally sound and culturally adaptable to ensure positive outcomes.

Keywords:
Telemedicine; Ethics; Legislation; Risk; Socioeconomic factors