Civil Liability in Telemedicine under Iranian Law

Abstract

Telemedicine refers to the use of information and communication technologies to provide healthcare, services, and patient support when a geographical distance exists between the patient and the medical team. Telemedicine differs from traditional medicine (i.e., medicine delivered through conventional societal means). Given its application in treatment as well as in other areas such as medical education and consultation across various regions within a country and sometimes beyond national borders, it clearly necessitates the establishment of an appropriate and well-drafted legal framework that can address its legal gaps both on national and transnational levels (e.g., conflict of jurisdiction issues). After conducting a thorough review, it was found that there is no comprehensive and specialized legislation in Iran that specifically addresses the legal challenges in this field. Consequently, existing laws are utilized, along with analogical reasoning and recommendations, to address related legal issues. When medical services are provided through conventional means, identifying the legal relationships between patients and service providers is relatively straightforward. However, in telemedicine services, we often observe the direct or indirect involvement of at least one physician who is not a member of the treatment center and may even be located in a remote region or a different country. Does a relationship—contractual or otherwise—exist between the patient and the aforementioned physician? Since the physician-patient relationship is inherently contractual in nature and is defined as a treatment contract, various legal principles can be applied in Iran to resolve jurisdictional conflicts and determine the applicable law. These include the law of the place where the contract was concluded, the law of the parties' shared domicile, the law of the place of performance of the obligation, the law of the parties' nationality, or the law mutually agreed upon by the parties.