E-Commerce and Internet Law Issues
With healthcare being delivered online or via software—whether as digital health, mobile health, telemedicine, a mobile medical app, wearable health technology, or via virtual reality, augmented reality, AI-powered devise, or otherwise—healthcare companies that are looking to grab market share, need to understand how healthcare law intersects with intellectual property protection and general business law.
Our legal team can guide healthcare companies with an online presence, software, or other health technology regarding legal issues relating to:
- Advertising legal issues
- Business dispute resolution
- Business policies
- Disclaimers specific to the health and wellness industry
- E-commerce Issues
- Email and SPAM legal issues
- FDA law governing mobile medical apps
- FTC mandated disclosures
- FTC issues governing testimonials and endorsements
- HIPAA and data security protection
- Intellectual property protection
- Internet privacy
- Made in the USA rules
- Rules specific to nutraceutical, weight loss and skin care products
- Social media legal issues
- Telemarketing law
- Terms of use
- Trade secrets and confidentiality
- Website review with respect to claims
- Website Terms of Use
In addition to reviewing marketing materials for FTC exposure, we also provide corporate legal advice, including drafting and negotiating Internet Affiliate Agreements, Online Publishing Agreements, Marketing and Sales Agent Agreements, Website Development Agreements, and specialized agreements for the healthcare industry.
Our healthcare and FDA attorneys will issue-spot for liability risk, not only in the traditional corners of negligence, but also with respect to potential side-attacks, such as claims for unfair business practices, intellectual property infringement or theft of trade secrets, weak spots in compliance, fraud and abuse issues, and other sources of legal and regulatory risk.
Leases & Real Estate
We counsel our clients, from physician practices to management services organizations to growing healthcare startups, with respect to commercial leases and subleases, and on associated regulatory issues such as anti-kickback requirements that transactions be commercially reasonable and at fair market value.
We want our clients to be on the right side of fraud and abuse laws and regulations, and to ensure that they do not run afoul of corporate practice of medicine or other regulatory rules. In addition, we assist our clients in corporate transactions involving real estate, including M&A transactions and purchases and sales of medical or other clinical practices.
Liability & Risk Management
An online business that connects patients and healthcare practitioners may be subject to several sources of liability, including liability relating to unlicensed practice; vicarious liability relating to the negligence of practitioners; and liability premised on failure to vet (or credential) practitioners appropriately.
In general, there are two forms of vicarious liability: one is liability simply by the appearance of agency—i.e., the practitioner reasonably appears from the patient’s perspective to be an agent of the online company. The other is liability for failure to supervise.
While targeted disclaimers can help, it is also essential to build in some foundational risk management techniques, including contractually ensuring that practitioners do not violate their scope of practice or engage in practices that could result in liability to the telemedicine or digital health company.