Commentary: The doctor who helped save her is in another state, and telemedicine follow-up is prohibited

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Set us as preferred In her fight against an aggressive form of cancer, Santa Clarita Valley resident Robin Clough is winning, for now.But in her fight for the right to have telemedicine followups with the out-of-state doctor who helped save her life, she is losing.And legislation that would have eased the way for her and other California patients who are in remission to get continued care across state lines just died in Sacramento.Clough and her husband, Dr.

Gene Dorio, a house-call geriatrician I’ve written about several times, were driving home from a medical appointment the other day when I reached them by phone.Clough, still doing well four years after a diagnosis of anaplastic thyroid cancer, said people can’t believe it when she tells them about the prohibition on communications with her doctor in Texas.“They’re like, ‘That’s absurd,’” Clough said.And the problem isn’t limited to California, which is one of about 30 states with tight restrictions on interstate telemedicine.

“There are tens if not hundreds of thousands of cases,” said Dr.Helen Hughes, a Johns Hopkins pediatrician and leading advocate for reforms that would remove barriers between patients and the care they need.Huges said that during the COVID-19 pandemic, telemedicine flourished by necessity.

That included cases in which a patient in one state was being treated by a doctor in another state.But there’s been a gradual return to prohibiting doctors from providing care to patients in states where they are not licensed to practice.Patients with cancer and various chronic diseases are affected.

But so are students who attend college out of state and can’t check in with their doctors back home.And someone who participates in a clinical trial could run into interstate restrictions.These conflicts will become more common, said Hughes...