Since states started rolling back pandemic-inspired flexibilities that allowed physicians to easily practice telehealth across state lines, virtual health care providers have criticized state-based medical licensure rules as unnecessarily burdensome, expensive, and detrimental to patient care.
Now, two of them are arguing in a lawsuit that they can also be unconstitutional.
On Wednesday, a neurosurgeon, an oncologist, and two New Jersey-based patients sued the state’s medical board, alleging that the state’s licensure requirements for doctors practicing via telemedicine restrict livesaving access to specialty care. The case marks a newly aggressive strategy as health care systems and regulators continue to debate the role of state medical licensing in an increasingly virtual health care system.