In Germany medical doctors are regulated by the regulations of their provincial Medical Associations. Those rules are binding for doctors registered in the respective province. To achieve some unity for all of Germany the Provincial Medical Organizations are associated in a Federal Medical Association. This Federal Association issues a Model Regulation for Doctors which, however, is not binding but only serves as an orientation for the regulations by the Provincial Medical Associations. The Federal Association has recently (May 2018) recommended to change the existing Model Regulation so that - in individual cases - EXCLUSIVE advice via telecommunication media is permitted provided appropriate medical care is ensured. (It was already permitted in an ongoing patient-doctor relationship as an additional communication medium). Two provinces have already changed their (binding) Regulations prior to the Federal Association: Schleswig-Holstein (a Northern Province) has already allowed it and Baden-Württemberg (a Southern Province with a border to Switzerland) permits it in "model trials" licensed by its Medical Association. The issue is still highly contested but doctors feel the pressure from medical call centers in neighboring countries in particular Switzerland and the UK. NB: Veterinaries are not allowed to prescribe regulated medicines exclusively via electronic media (Regulation by the Federal Regulation on Pharmaceutical Products for Animals); they have to personally examine the animals. Herbert Burkert Research Centre for Information Law University of St.Gallen - tele comment to the best of my knowledge without having talked to you face to face (yet) -:) - I will be in Istanbul 22 - 26 May...