TMB Drops Appeal of Antitrust Challenge to Telemedicine Limits

In a surprising move on Monday, the Texas Medical Board (TMB) voluntarily dismissed its appeal to the Fifth Circuit in the antitrust challenge brought by Dallas-based Teledoc, the largest provider of telehealth services in the U.S. The appeal requested that Teledoc’s antitrust challenge of a TMB rule that requires physicians to see patients “face-to face” before providing telehealth care be barred under the “state action” doctrine.   Last month, the Federal Trade Commission and the U.S Department of Justice filed a joint amicus brief siding with Teledoc on jurisdictional grounds.   Teledoc claims that the TMB admitted at its last board meeting that its withdrawal of the appeal was “purely strategic” and that the TMB did not want to suffer another legal defeat before the Fifth Circuit in this hotly contested case.