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Thursday, 21 November, 2024

FOCUS: MEDICO-LEGAL

Paediatrician had no motive to kill children, defence argues

Venilla Yoganathan - 0
Well-known paediatric surgeon Professor Peter Beale was in the dock again this week as the state and defence presented closing arguments in his murder trial, writes MedicalBrief. Also in court this week, in a separate case, was renowned Headache Clinic founder Dr Elliot Shevel, charged with the murder of a patient (see story in Medico-Legal below). Lawyers for Beale, charged with the murders of three children who died after surgeries he had performed, argued in the Gauteng High Court this...
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FOCUS: DIABETES

SA facing diabetes ‘pandemic’ as cases soar among young people

Venilla Yoganathan - 0
A critical shortage of specialists to treat diabetics is contributing to the treatment challenges for patients in South Africa where the disease is now at “pandemic” proportions, notes MedicalBrief. This comes as a major international study by The Lancet has found that the number of diabetics worldwide has doubled over the past three decades – up to 800m people – with the increase being worst in low- and middle-income countries. In South Africa, cases are at “pandemic” proportions, especially among younger...
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NEWS UPDATE

New pill cuts genetic cholesterol by nearly 86%, finds mid-stage trial

The highest dose of an experimental pill has dramatically lowered an inherited form of high cholesterol in a mid-stage trial. Eli Lilly announced that, according to the data, the drug, muvalaplin, reduced levels of lipoprotein(a), or Lp(a), by 70% using a traditional blood test and by nearly 86% based on a more specific test developed by the company, researchers reported at the American Heart Association meeting in Chicago. Reuters reports that the drug is the only oral treatment in a field of several injectable therapies being tested to treat high Lp(a), a risk factor for heart disease that affects one in...

ANC backs Premier in HPCSA inquiry

Limpopo Premier Phophi Ramathuba has the ANC’s full support for her 2022 remarks to a Zimbabwean patient in Bela Bela Hospital about foreigners “killing” the health system, but a judge has described her protests as “contrived and self-serving”. Amid a Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA) probe into her controversial comments at the time, when she was Health MEC, the ANC believes “she said nothing wrong and was quite correct to raise the alarm”. The HPCSA launched the formal inquiry last week after finding, in 2023, that she had conducted herself in an “unprofessional” manner that was “unbecoming of a medical...

Randburg Clinic crisis of one doctor for 400 patients

Johannesburg’s Randburg Clinic is sagging beneath the weight of limited resources and growing patient numbers, resulting in long waits in overcrowded conditions and regular medication stockouts. With only one doctor to serve 350 to 400 patients daily, the facility’s ability to deliver quality care is increasingly being compromised, reports Randburg News, with the situation exacerbated by an influx of foreign nationals, raising questions about healthcare accessibility and the province’s response to rising pressures on public services. Around 70% of the 12 000 recorded patient files belong to foreign nationals, placing additional strain on a facility already overwhelmed by local demand. Despite this, the...

Action plan launched to combat food poisonings in SA

Children from a primary school in Limpopo were checked for suspected food poisoning last Thursday after 75 of them complained of stomach ache – the day before President Cyril Ramaphosa addressed the nation about the spate of similar cases countrywide. The principal immediately sent the pupils to Nkhensani Hospital in Giyani, where 11 of them were kept overnight for observation, reports TimesLIVE. Limpopo Government spokesperson Ndavhe Ramakuela they were investigating food eaten by the pupils through the national school nutrition programme, and any other food sources that may have contributed to the situation. In his address to the nation on Friday night,...

Global Fund to probe fishy oxygen tender

Health Minister Dr Aaron Motsoaledi said last week that the Geneva-based Global Fund is sending its own investigators to SA to probe allegations that its money was used to issue a multimillion-rand tender for an unaccredited company to supply oxygen to 55 public hospitals. Motsoaledi revealed this to MPs in the National Assembly after earlier reports of the Independent Development Trust (IDT) awarding the R428m tender to install the pressure swing adsorption (PSA) oxygen plants. The winning company does not have the required accreditation from the SA Health Professions Regulatory Authority (SAHPRA), and the Minister said that having an international body...

Calls for removal of Gauteng Health boss

The DA has urged Premier Panyaza Lesufi to remove HoD Lesiba Malotana – one of three officials implicated in the Special Investigating Unit’s (SIU) probe of two questionable contracts within Gauteng Health. The trio is allegedly linked to tenders involving the supply and delivery of three-division plastic containers with lids, small tubs with lids, dual-surface polyester film and orthopaedic implants, fracture treatment and arthroscopy items, reports News24. DA Gauteng shadow MEC for Health Jack Bloom has raised concerns about Malotana and the other officials allegedly receiving more than R10m in bribes, saying the SIU has powers for further investigation, can lay...

Trump picks celebrity TV doc among other controversial health appointees

President-elect Donald Trump has caused more concern in health circles with his selection this week of celebrity doctor, cardiothoracic surgeon Mehmet Oz, to oversee a key government agency. Oz will oversee the Centres for Medicare and Medicaid, which is responsible for more than $1trn in annual spending, with objectors describing him as unqualified for the mammoth task. This comes as Trump's selection of Robert F Kennedy Jr for secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) continues to attract mixed reactions in the US, and been called “an extraordinarily bad choice”, by Dr Ashish Jha, dean of the Brown...

Critical healthcare deal in Gauteng teeters on the brink

An extended impasse over a vital agreement for training and improved hospital management between the Gauteng Department of Health and Wits University remains derailed, despite behind-the-scenes efforts to get it back on track, writes Ufrieda Ho for Spotlight. The critical deal aimed at bolstering healthcare services in a province with the largest and busiest operating hospitals in South Africa is now hanging by a thread. The memorandum of agreement (MOA) was signed more than two and a half years ago, in June 2022, but has yet to be implemented by the department – despite the last MOA between the parties having...

Critical linen shortage at Bara after laundry failure

Gauteng’s Health Department has had to step in after linen supplies at Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital ground to a halt when the washing machines broke down. A spokesperson said that “a team of infrastructure technicians is working with the appointed contractor to restore laundry services to full capacity as speedily as possible”, reports The Citizen. “The laundry machines …are ageing and have reached the end of their operational lifespan… necessitating their complete replacement.” The National Department of Health (NDoH) and the Gauteng provincial Treasury (GPT) have approved a request for new equipment, and the machines will be installed “when finance is provided”, added the...

WHO alert as measles surge worldwide

Measles cases are escalating worldwide at an alarming rate – mainly due to a drop in vaccines – according to a report from the WHO and the US Centres for Disease Control & Prevention, with 10.3m people being infected last year, a 20% jump from 2022. At least 95% coverage with two doses of the measles/rubella vaccine is needed to prevent outbreaks of what is one of the most infectious diseases in the world, reports Al Jazeera. But in 2023, only 83% of children worldwide received their first dose of the vaccine through routine health services – the same level as...

US medical school in hot water for liquefying bodies after using for training

The University of North Texas Health Science Centre has been ordered to immediately stop its practice of liquefying bodies after using them for training and research, after revelations that it had turned to alkaline hydrolysis to save money on cremating human remains. This follows recent findings – in September – that the Centre had dissected and studied hundreds of unclaimed bodies without the consent of the dead or their families. NBC News reports that many of the bodies were cut up and leased to other schools, medical technology companies and the army, which used them to train students and doctors. In...

Hijackers leave EMS crew, patient (8) on roadside

Hijackers targeted an ambulance near Qumbu in the Eastern Cape on Monday night – the fourth department vehicle to be hijacked here since January – leaving the crew and an eight-year-old patient stranded on the side of the road. The provincial Health Department and police are still searching for the vehicle, which is worth around R1m, reports Daily Maverick. The patient was being taken from the Oliver and Adelaide Tambo Regional Hospital in Mbizana to Nelson Mandela Bay Hospital in Mthatha, said department spokesperson Mkhululi Ndamase. “The senseless attack traumatised the two EMS crew and the young patient, all of whom will...

Discovery under fire for Israel link to summit

Despite criticism from some social media users, Discovery SA went ahead with its hosting of the global Future of Health (FOH) Summit in Cape Town this week, at which some Israeli healthcare providers were participating as speakers. The symposium, being held in South Africa for the first time, took place on Tuesday, reports The Citizen. Kaajal Ramjathan-Keogh, director at the International Commission of Jurists – Africa (ICJ) said that hosting Israeli healthcare officials showed Discovery was “tone deaf and unconscionable”. Also critical was social media user Ammarah Garda, who said the “FOH member organisations are diverse, but one that sticks out is...

First clade 1b mpox case detected in America from Africa

In the first known case in the United States, a Californian man has tested positive for the mpox Clade 1b virus that’s currently running rife in Africa, and which has been categorised as an epidemic. The patient, who had recently returned from East Africa, was diagnosed in San Francisco and is isolating at home, reports The New York Times. Officials at the California Department of Public Health and at the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) are tracking down potential contacts of the patient for further testing. The CDC said that at this stage, there was no evidence that Clade Ib...

Doctor shot dead outside gym

A 34-year-old female doctor at a public hospital was fatally shot outside a gym in Mbombela yesterday morning. A TimesLIVE report says local police are investigating the circumstances surrounding the incident, and the motive for her killing is unknown. Police spokesperson Brigadier Donald Mdhluli said two suspects are being sought by the police and no arrests have been made. TimesLIVE - Doctor shot dead outside gym in Mpumalanga  

MEDICO-LEGAL

Headache Clinic doctor faces murder charge

South African headache specialist Dr Elliot Shevel has been charged with the murder of former patient Marinella Avvakoumides, who died hours after undergoing a procedure at his Headache Clinic in Johannesburg in 2021. Despite his insistence that the procedure was safe, autopsy reports suggest that the injections he administered allegedly caused fatal brain injuries. Shevel (81) appeared in the Randburg Magistrate's Court last Thursday, charged with the murder of Cape Town fashion school vice-principal Avvakoumides (38) who died within hours of the Shevel Desensitisation Procedure. News24 reports that until his surgery in Johannesburg was closed about two months ago, Shevel had charged...

Discovery wants back R16m paid for ‘permanent disability’

Discovery Life wants to recover R16m it paid to a KwaZulu-Natal man who claimed he was permanently disabled due to depression – and unable to work – with the court ordering him last week to provide the insurance company with all relevant documents it has requested within 10 days. IOL reports that Sunil Pranpath had taken out various policies with Discovery Life, including income protection cover in the event that he became permanently unable to work. In June 2023, he lodged a claim after being knocked over by a car and suffering from orthopaedic injuries. The claim was accepted and the money...

Disbarred doctor back in court, guilty of fraud, corruption

A Western Cape man, who was disbarred in 2017 but who continued treating patients and dispensing medication under the name of another doctor, has been found guilty and convicted on multiple charges, including fraud, forgery, and corruption. Rashid Fareed Mahfouz (66) was arrested by Philippi police in February last year while operating a practice without registration under the Health Professions Act. During his illegal operation, Mahfouz issued fraudulent sick notes and dispensed medication using the credentials of a registered doctor. IOL reports that he also attempted to interfere with justice during a bail hearing after his arrest, attempting to bribe a court...

Medico-legal lawyer off the hook in misappropriation case

In an unexpected decision, a Legal Practice Council (LPC) disciplinary committee has acquitted a lawyer – who paid just R50 000 of a R15m medical negligence settlement to a severely disabled child’s trust account – of misappropriating those funds, saying it was unable to prove the misappropriation. The money was transferred to Eastern Cape attorney Steven Kuselo Gqeba’s trust account almost four years ago. However, said his lawyer, he had not made payments to the child’s trust – which was intended to ensure the little girl was adequately cared for after she was left severely disabled by Health Department negligence –...

Doctor prescribes Ozempic but obesity was 28kg tumour

A Norwegian man who was about to undergo gastric sleeve surgery – and who had struggled for more than a decade with his weight and then been prescribed Ozempic – turned out to have a massive cancerous tumour in his stomach, which had gone undetected for years. He is now determined to sue the doctors who missed the diagnosis. Norwegian optician Dr Thomas Kraut (59) had spent 12 years battling a weight problem, and as his stomach grew larger, doctors assumed he was just obese and enrolled him in weight loss and nutrition courses. He was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes in...

SOME RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS IN THE PAST WEEK

CARDIOVASCULAR

Eggs might cut cholesterol, help brain health – US analysis

Eating two to four eggs a week could help lower blood cholesterol levels, and improve memory, according to researchers at the University of California San Diego who analysed the health data of 890 men and women. Their review is based on data from a healthy ageing study that began in...

DERMATOLOGY

Air pollution linked to higher eczema risk – Yale study

People living in areas with high air pollution are more likely to develop eczema, say researchers after a large cross-sectional study exploring the potential environmental impact of industrialisation on skin health in the US. The scientists, from the Yale School of Medicine and led by Dr Jeffrey Cohen, found that...

ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH

US analysis links 22 pesticides to prostate cancers

Researchers have found that nearly two dozen pesticides are associated with an increased risk of prostate cancer in the United States, four of them also being tied to prostate cancer deaths. Among them is the toxic 2,4-D, a water-soluble herbicide that controls broadleaf weeds and germinating grasses in crops like barley, maize,...

GASTROENTEROLOGY

Colonoscopies detect more colorectal cancer than blood tests, study finds

Although people might prefer to get screened for colorectal cancer with a blood test rather than a colonoscopy, the latter stool-based procedure can prevent more deaths, suggests a recent study. The researchers said twice as many colorectal cancer deaths would occur with blood-based screening as with colonoscopies, and that while...

RHEUMATOLOGY

Study finds two treatments osteoarthritis ineffective

Negative studies of colchicine and a herbal-supplement cocktail have dashed hopes of non-surgical treatments – with fewer side effects than ordinary painkillers - for osteoarthritis, according to results of two randomised trials. In one, colchicine proved to be no better than placebo for pain relief or patient-reported functional improvement in...

NEUROLOGY

Fluctuating cholesterol may be warning sign for dementia – Monash-US study

A large study of nearly 10 000 adults in their 70s reveals that unexplained year-to-year changes in cholesterol levels might serve as an early warning sign for dementia risk. The research, conducted over six years, found that people with the most variable cholesterol levels showed a 60% higher risk...

ONCOLOGY

T-cell therapy ups odds of solid tumour survival – Singapore trial

Data from the first-of-a-kind T cell therapy trial in Singapore for solid tumours show positive results, and represent a significant milestone, say experts. “The delivery of high-quality T cells at large scale has been a major barrier for extending the applications of these therapies. To have achieved this goal when...

OPHTHALMOLOGY

World first stem cell transplant improves vision in patients

A radical stem cell transplant has significantly improved the blurry vision of three people with severe damage to their corneas, the clinical trial in Japan signalling a huge advancement for stem cell research. Two years after the operation, the first of its kind in the world, no serious safety concerns...

PAEDIATRICS

Asthmatic children may develop cognitive issues – US cohort study

American researchers have suggested that children with asthma may have memory problems – performing worse in memory tasks than their peers without the condition – and a higher risk of dementia in later life. In a sample of 473 children who were followed for two years, the scientists found that...

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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