Absolutely. I'm quite happy with online pharmacies and telemedicine as separate concepts; it's the conflict of interest inherent in "we'll refer you to a doctor who will give you a prescription so that we can sell you these pills" which concerns me.
This is very different from the concern you expressed in your toplevel comment. A doctor having a profit motive to write prescriptions could very well conflict with their ethical obligation to recommend alternatives where medically appropriate.
On the other hand, it's my impression that most of the medicines people obtain this way - specifically contraceptives and erectile dysfunction treatments - are straightforward enough that an automated decision tree could probably do a reasonable job screening most patients.
This is very different from the concern you expressed in your toplevel comment.
One concern leads to the other. That is to say, if I thought patients were receiving a medical consultation which met the normal standard of care, I would not be concerned about physician-avoidant behaviours; it's the combination of "may have received medication without a proper medical consultation" and "may be unlikely to seek medical care in the event of potentially life-threatening complications" which concerns me.
it's my impression that most of the medicines people obtain this way - specifically contraceptives and erectile dysfunction treatments - are straightforward enough that an automated decision tree could probably do a reasonable job screening most patients.
I agree. And I'd rather have such screening performed by an FDA-approved automated decision tree than by a doctor who has financial incentives in conflict with his ethical obligations.
But regular doctors in non-virtual offices have all kinds of incentives dropped on them to prescribe certain medicine. "Separating" the two hardly does away with incentivized prescription writing.
So both still telehealth / online, just separate.