AP\u00a0\u2014\u00a0\n <\/p>\n
\n The appeal of telehealth<\/a> is easy to explain: Instead of calling a doctor, booking an appointment and hoping to eventually get a prescription, you can log onto an app or website and get approved for a new medication<\/a> within minutes.\n <\/p>\n \n Since the COVID-19 pandemic, scores of online health services<\/a> have launched with the promise of quick, convenient access to drugs for ADHD, sexual dysfunction, anxiety, weight loss and more.\n <\/p>\n \n Increasingly, though, government regulators are accusing these companies of deceptive, unethical business practices<\/a>, including disclosing their customers\u2019 health data, signing them up for hard-to-cancel subscriptions and bypassing real-time consultations with doctors.\n <\/p>\n \n The Federal Trade Commission\u2019s latest lawsuit<\/a> alleges that telehealth pioneer Hims & Hers<\/a> engaged in all of those tactics, running afoul of U.S. consumer protection laws.\n <\/p>\n \n Hims has disputed the government\u2019s claims, calling them \u201can effort to generate headlines at our expense.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n In recent years, FTC officials have filed similar cases against more than a half-dozen telehealth companies, including online therapy provider BetterHelp<\/a> and pharmacy discount service GoodRx<\/a>. In both cases, regulators said the companies shared users\u2019 health data with online platforms such as Meta and Google, without getting permission.\n <\/p>\n \n Experts say part of the problem is that federal laws that govern the handling of health information generally don\u2019t apply to telehealth companies.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cThere\u2019s an entire universe of companies collecting huge amounts of consumer health data every day that aren\u2019t covered by our current health sector-specific laws,\u201d said Andrew Crawford, an attorney with the nonprofit Center for Democracy and Technology.\n <\/p>\n \n Here are some things to know before signing up for a telehealth service:\n <\/p>\n \n Nearly all telehealth visits begin with a questionnaire in which users provide details about their medical history and possible medications they\u2019re interested in.\n <\/p>\n \n According to the FTC\u2019s lawsuit, Hims customers were automatically enrolled and billed for recurring prescriptions with \u201cvirtually no opportunity to review the provider\u2019s recommended treatment.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n Researchers have documented similar practices across the industry, even for injectable weight-loss drugs that typically require a physical exam and other precautions before beginning treatment.\n <\/p>\n