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Tuesday, 10 June, 2025

FOCUS: COVID

Optimism over multiple myeloma, breast cancer breakthroughs

Venilla Yoganathan - 0
Two significant research developments, presented in the US last week, are being hailed as major breakthroughs in the search for cures for multiple myeloma and breast cancer, notes MedicalBrief. Positive results after a study of CAR-T treatment on multiple myeloma and a new drug that could stop some breast cancer tumours from using hormones to grow have upped the stakes in cancer research. Both studies were reported this past weekend at the annual conference of the American Society of Clinical Oncology in Chicago....
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NEWS UPDATE

Ramaphosa granted ConCourt hearing for NHI appeal

The Constitutional Court has granted President Cyril Ramaphosa direct leave to appeal the High Court judgment – in May – regarding his decision to assent to the National Health Insurance Act (NHI). Business Day reports that in a legal challenge brought by the Board of Healthcare Funders (BHF) and the SA Private Practitioners Forum (SAPPF), the High Court had found that the President’s decision was reviewable. The NHI Act has been challenged by Solidarity, the Board of Healthcare Funders, the Hospital Association of SA (Hospersa) and the SA Medical Association (SAMA). In court papers, Ramaphosa’s legal adviser Geoffrey Mphaphuli, argued that the...

Judge rejects bid to have hospital tender fraud case ‘struck off’

South Africa’s most expensive, multibillion-rand mental hospital was central to a Kimberley Magistrate Court case this week in which former Northern Cape MEC John Block and eight others are accused of fraud, corruption and money laundering linked to the construction of the facility. The psychiatric hospital, which became a symbol of government mismanagement, took 14 years to complete, with final costs ballooning to R2.1bn. The Diamond Fields Advertiser reports that a tender of R5m was allegedly unlawfully awarded to those appearing before court. The defence, however, applied for the case to be struck off the roll, citing “prejudicial delays”. Apart from Block, the other accused...

Millions outstanding to medical device firms from state departments

The government has been sharply rebuked yet again for its tardiness in paying outstanding bills to small suppliers, with the SA Medical Device Industry Association (Samed) warning that small firms are increasingly reluctant to supply the state, which owes millions to desperate members. The biggest offender, owing R650m – with R379.7m of the debt being older than 120 days – is the Gauteng Department of Health. Last year, it owed Samed members R493m. Business Day reports that at the end of May, 49 Samed members were owed more than R1.4bn by provincial Health Departments, the National Health Laboratory Service and the...

Hackers target Mediclinic staff data

Mediclinic says employment-related data was affected in a cyber-security breach affecting a third-party IT service provider. MyBroadband reported that cyber-extortion gang Everest Group had claimed responsibility for the attack earlier this year, reports News24. “Mediclinic had engaged the third-party IT service provider, which immediately took steps to ensure the containment of the incident, including immediately isolating the affected system, resetting access credentials, and working with external specialists in an incident response investigation,” it said in a statement. It was determined that the affected data was limited to staff information, and that no patient data had been affected, not was there any disruption...

Public Protector lays bare structural problems at Eastern Cape Health

The Eastern Cape Department of Health has been slammed by the Public Protector in a damning report for failing to provide adequate equipment and personnel at Dora Nginza Hospital – leaving the facility, its staff and patients in several life-and-death situations – and been given deadlines in which to present urgent solutions to numerous problems. Public Protector Advocate Kholeka Gcaleka highlighted the shortage of staff and medical equipment at the hospital, as well as inadequate security and insufficient space in the maternity ward, forcing pregnant women to sleep on the floor. The root of these, and other problems, was “a serious...

Family in battle with medical scheme to cover rare cancer drug

The family of an Eastern Cape man is squaring up to take on the Council for Medical Schemes (CMS), after an unsuccessful struggle to have Discovery cover the costs of his costly cancer medication, and after they were forced to crowdfund to get him on to the treatment. Diagnosed with what they saw as a death sentence a year ago, Reverend Barry Fourie’s only hope was the expensive treatment Discovery refused to cover. Through fundraising, however, he has managed to already meet the halfway mark of his immunotherapy, a specialised targeted treatment which costs a cumulative R1.5m for the 18 bags needed to...

Staff shortages leave North West hospital ‘broken’

Patients are being left untreated for weeks and surgeries postponed amid a ballooning crisis at Bophelong Provincial Hospital in the North West, where severe staff shortages and systemic dysfunction appear to be slowly bringing the facility to the brink of collapse. Kagiso Mangwejane, a DA councillor and chairperson of the Financial Recovery Plan committee in the Tswaing Local Municipality, was admitted to the hospital more than a month ago with a fractured femur, but despite multiple scheduled surgeries, his operation has been postponed six times – most recently due to unavailability of theatre nurses. He described the situation as a “healthcare...

TikTok doctor wants R2m payout for ‘unlawful arrest’

A letter apparently sent to the SAPS demanding R2m in compensation for the “unlawful arrest” of TikTok doctor Matthew Lani in 2023 has not been seen by Police Minister Senzo Mchunu, but he would “deal with it when it lands on his desk”. Lani, who was arrested at Helen Joseph Hospital in Johannesburg in October 2023 after a social media frenzy about his qualifications, made headlines for masquerading as a doctor and dishing out “medical” advice on TikTok. However, Wits University denied that he was a graduate at the institution’s medical school, while it was also confirmed he hadn’t completed matric,...

New antibiotic heads for final phase testing

The first new antibiotic in 50 years to tackle a common superbug is expected to be tested on patients soon, Swiss pharmaceutical giant Roche has announced. Zosurabalpin, which is entering into the third and last phase of testing on humans, targets one of the bacteria considered to pose the biggest threat to human health, and has been hailed as an “exciting” development in the fight against antibiotic resistance. The Telegraph reports that it is the first drug in five decades to show promise of tackling Acinetobacter baumannii, a pathogen described as a “priority” by the World Health Organisation and an “urgent threat” by...

RFK Jr threatens to ban scientists from publishing in top journals

US Health Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr has threatened to stop government scientists from publishing their work in major medical journals as part of his escalating war on institutions which he says are influenced by pharmaceutical companies. Speaking on the “Ultimate Human” podcast, Kennedy said the New England Journal of Medicine, the Journal of the American Medical Association and The Lancet were “corrupt”, and publish studies funded and approved by pharmaceutical companies. “Unless those journals change dramatically, we are going to stop NIH scientists from publishing in them and we’re going to create our own journals in-house,” he said, referring to...

Ethiopia reports first mpox cases

Mpox is continuing to spread across the continent, with the first three cases being reported in Ethiopia last week and the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) saying another 6.4m vaccines are needed to deal with the outbreak. Three-quarters of Africa’s confirmed new cases are in Sierra Leone, with 648 confirmed cases in the past week. Yet the country only has around 10 000 vaccine doses, reports Health Policy Watch, and will need millions more within the next few months. Dr Ngashi Ngongo, Africa CDC’s mpox incident manager, said the 16 915 confirmed cases for the first five...

Tobacco industry deliberately targets teens, says Phaala

Vapes have come under renewed criticism from pubic health advocates, with Deputy Health Minister Joe Phaahla accusing the tobacco industry of deliberately targeting non-smokers with its electronic devices, which it punts as “harm reduction” and designed to help people quit cigarettes. Business Day reports that earlier this week, Phaala said the South African market had been flooded with electronic nicotine-delivery devices and flavoured liquids aimed at young people, in a “calculated effort to perpetuate nicotine addiction for profit”, and that these products were “not harmless”. “They all carry serious health risks and often lead to dual use, which undermines any harm...

Probe rules out link between hospital and staff’s brain tumours

Massachusetts health officials have completed an inspection of Newton-Wellesley Hospital after six current and former nurses on the fifth-floor maternity unit reported having brain tumours. A nursing union had called for further investigation after an internal probe initially found no environmental risks within the hospital where five nurses, on the same floor, had all developed tumours. However, the Department of Public Health report found that all radiation readings were within regulatory limits and that there was no evidence that anything in the building could have caused the tumours, reports WCVB. DPH said it could not confirm or deny multiple tumour diagnoses, since only one...

Moderna reels as US cancels $700m for bird flu jab

In a decision which has been slammed by scientists, the Trump administration has cancelled a contract awarded to Moderna for the late-stage development of its bird flu vaccine for humans, as well as the right to purchase shots, the company said last week. Six months ago, the Biden administration awarded Moderna $590m for development of its bird flu vaccine, and to support the expansion of clinical studies for up to five additional subtypes of pandemic influenza, Reuters reports. This was in addition to $176m pledged by the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) last year to complete the late-stage development...

UK’s disposable vape ban ‘unlikely’ to have much impact

A British campaign group has warned that the country’s ban on single-use vapes – from this past Sunday – was unlikely to reduce the appeal of e-cigarettes to teenagers because, they said, re-usable models are so similar to disposables. Hazel Cheeseman, chief executive of Action on Smoking and Health (Ash), welcomed the legislation as a step towards tougher regulations, but told the BBC it was unlikely the prohibition would make a dent on the products’ desirability, and that stronger action was necessary to make vaping less appealing to young people who had never smoked. The government has previously said the ban...

MEDICO-LEGAL

Wouter Basson faces another HPCSA disciplinary

The Health Professions Council of SA (HPCSA) is busy with yet another disciplinary process against Dr Wouter Basson, cardiologist and former head of the SA Defence Force’s chemical and biological warfare programme. Netwerk24 reports that this was revealed in a parliamentary reply by Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi to a question by EFF MP Carl Niehaus. Previous disciplinary proceedings ended in litigation up to the Constitutional Court. Motsoaledi’s answer said the latest disciplinary procedure has been halted as Basson launched an application in the High Court for a permanent stay of proceedings. The HPCSA is opposing this application.   Netwerk24 article – Raad stel weer dissiplinêre...

Court declares mistrial in negligence case over Maradona’s death

An Argentinian court last week declared a mistrial in the case of seven health professionals accused of negligence in the death of soccer legend Diego Maradona, the latest dramatic twist in a trial that has captivated the nation for more than two months. Thursday’s decision came after one of the three judges overseeing the trial stepped down over criticism surrounding her participation in a forthcoming documentary about the case. The Guardian reports that Judge Julieta Makintach’s withdrawal compelled her two fellow judges to either appoint a new colleague in her place or restart the entire case from scratch. The judges decided on the latter, effectively...

French paedophile gets 20 years, but eligible for parole in 2030

Frenchman Joel Le Scouarnec, the former surgeon who has admitted sexually abusing hundreds of patients – mostly children, between 1989 and 2014 – has been sentenced to a maximum term of 20 years, but because he has already served seven years, could be up for parole in 2030. In announcing the sentence, the judge said the court had taken into account that Le Scouarnec had especially sought out unwell, vulnerable and sedated victims. The BBC reports that the sentence has a mandatory minimum term of two-thirds – and because Le Scouarnec (74) has already served seven years, he may be eligible...

Rash of lawsuits accuse US doctor of ‘deforming’ faces

An eye doctor in Atlanta, USA, has denied any wrongdoing, despite 11 women claiming he disfigured them and ruined their lives, while the state medical board, which has interviewed the women, would not confirm or deny an investigation into Dr Harvey “Chip” Cole. One of the complainants, Jennifer Messer, said that in 2022, she had visited Cole’s rooms seeking two plastic surgery eye procedures – but had left agreeing to many more, and that he reminded her of a car salesman. “He said that ‘If you’re already going to be asleep, you might as well go ahead and have this done...

SOME RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS IN THE PAST WEEK

CARDIOVASCULAR

Risks of stopping beta-blockers after heart attack – French trial

Researchers have found that interruption of beta-blocker treatment after an uncomplicated myocardial infarction (MI) leads to sustained increases in blood pressure and heart rate, with potentially harmful effects on...

GENETICS

New prostate cancer risk gene identified – US study

Scientists have recently identified MMS22L as a potential major gene associated with prostate cancer (PCa) susceptibility, with implications for both risk prediction and personalised treatment, they say. Building on existing knowledge that many genes...

Overweight boys risk genes of future offspring – Norwegian study

Boys whose fathers were overweight as teenagers had epigenetic markers associated with asthma, obesity and low lung function, according to a recent study, with the scientists warning that chubby...

INTERNAL MEDICINE

Child cancer survivors have higher disease risk – US study

Although children are much more likely to survive cancer today than 50 years ago, as adults, unfortunately, many of them develop cardiovascular disease, secondary cancers, or both, believed to...

NEUROLOGY

Autism may be tied to early-onset Parkinson’s – Swedish study

People with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) had a higher risk of developing Parkinson’s disease early in life, a nationwide population-based study in Sweden has suggested. After controlling for birth year,...

COVID-19

Type 2 diabetes triples Covid death risk – Russian study

Patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2D) who faced heightened health risks throughout and since the Covid-19 pandemic, were more than three times likelier to die from Covid than...

ONCOLOGY

Exercise cuts cancer return by more than a third – CHALLENGE trial

For decades, doctors have recommended adopting a healthy lifestyle to lower the risk of developing cancer. But until now there has been little evidence of the impact it could...

PARENTING

Mother’s warmth in childhood may affect teens’ mental health – UCLA study

Parental warmth and affection in early childhood could have lifelong physical and mental health benefits for children, with recent research pointing to an important underlying process: their sense of...

ABOUT US

MedicalBrief is Africa’s authoritative weekly digest of medical matters, both on the continent and around the world. It brings you a succinct summary of the latest developments, both in news and research, with links to the original material. Contact us: info@medicalbrief.co.za

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