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Wednesday, 4 February, 2026

FOCUS: PHARMACEUTICAL

SA sales of weight-loss drugs surge amid global rise in lawsuits

Venilla Yoganathan - 0
Sales of weight-loss drugs are sky-rocketing in South Africa, as it has in other parts of the world. But as the popularity of the so-called wonder drug rises, so too is the number of complaints about serious side effects which have now led to a 4 000-strong class action suit against the manufacturers, writes MedicalBrief. In the latest concern flagged about weight loss drugs, the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) in Britain has warned people using injections like...
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NEWS UPDATE

Ramaphosa seeks Constitutional Court intervention on NHI ruling

The Constitutional Court has been asked by President Cyril Ramaphosa and Health Minister Dr Aaron Motsoaledi to overturn the Gauteng High Court judgment declaring that the National Health Insurance (NHI) is reviewable. The President has also warned that questioning his decision-making has profound consequences for the exercise of the obligations he has, not only in the present matter, but in the future, as it engages issues regarding the Office of the Presidency as well as its ability to function, and the separation of powers, reports IOL. Last May, Gauteng High Court Judge Mpostoli Twala ruled in favour of the Board of...

Bonitas cuts ties with Medscheme

A four-decade long relationship has ended after Bonitas severed its ties with medical scheme administrator Medscheme, appointing Momentum and Private Health Administrators (PHA) to take over its contracts. Business Day reports that the move by Bonitas will not only wound Medscheme, but also its parent company Afrocentric. Bonitas has more than 374 000 principal members and about 750 000 beneficiaries, so it is one of Medscheme’s core clients. It has been administered by Medscheme since 1982. Bonitas principal officer Lee Callakoppen said the industry regulator requires schemes to continuously benchmark their contracts with service providers, and that evergreen contracts aren’t in...

Call to exempt mental health experts from VAT

The cost of mental healthcare in South Africa – and the shortage of providers in the field – means that more and more people with depression and anxiety are battling for help, say experts, who suggest that the country’s VAT policies are contributing to the over-inflation of the price of a therapy session. “Consequently, the possibility of long-term, sustainable and affordable private psychosocial healthcare recedes, becoming unattainable for most South Africans, especially those most in need of such support,” Dain Peters, a clinical psychologist in private practice, told Moneyweb. According to the South African Health Review 2025, psychologists are available at...

Lawsuit threat after KZN MEC slams private paramedics

KwaZulu-Natal Transport MEC Siboniso Duma has accused a private ambulance service in Durban of “bulldozing” their way into accident scenes, bullying law enforcement, inflating casualty numbers, and refusing to treat dying patients without medical aid. But Advanced Life Support (ALS) paramedics has reacte by threatening to sue the MEC if a public apology, as well as a retraction of previous comments, was not forthcoming this week. TimesLIVE reports attorney Wesley Rodgers, acting on behalf of ALS paramedics, sent Duma a letter on Friday after the politician had addressed media at the scene of a minibus taxi and truck crash in Lotus...

Mpumalanga hires 100 new doctors

The appointment of nearly 100 new doctors last week at clinics and hospitals in Mpumalanga would strengthen primary healthcare and boost service delivery, said Health MEC Sasekani Manzini. The Citizen reports that the new staff were appointed at facilities in Matsulu, Msogwaba, Bushbuckridge and surrounding areas, some of them being 24-hour clinics. The MEC said their employment was cause for celebration. “We appointed 97 out of the expected 99 because two doctors declined the posts, having already made arrangements to further their studies.” She said 57 of the appointees had been placed in district hospitals and 24-hour healthcare centres. “The appointment and deployment of...

Hospital CEOs in hot water over Israeli delegation visit

Eastern Cape Health MEC Ntandokazi Capa has launched an investigation into two hospital CEOs who allowed an Israeli diplomatic delegation to tour their facilities without provincial government approval, reports News24. She said the visit should have been authorised by the Bhisho provincial office. Nelson Mandela Academic Hospital CEO Nomkhitha Mtonjana and Mthatha Regional Hospital’s CEO Ntovhedzeni Ligeg had attended an event organised by controversial AbaThembu King Buyelekhaya Dalindyebo and Israeli diplomat David Saranga in Mthatha a week ago. The monarch had organised the meeting at his eNkululekweni residence to facilitate Israel’s provision of infrastructure, among other “healthcare needs”, to the two hospitals....

Eastern Cape patients risk lives in local clinics, report finds

Political parties have slammed the findings of an oversight report exposing appalling conditions at health facilities in the Eastern Cape’s Buffalo City Metro and Chris Hani districts, where crumbling infrastructure, weak security and staff shortages are hampering service delivery and jeopardising patients’ lives. The EFF said “buildings do not just collapse overnight”, and that the system “is at a point of no return”, while the DA said essential services at the facilities “are being stretched beyond breaking point”. The Daily Dispatch reports that the report detailing the crisis was tabled (virtually) in the provincial legislature in Bhisho last week – after...

Aids drug supply resumes as Barrs exits business rescue

Barrs Pharmaceuticals, which was unable to supply its share of the government’s Aids drug tender, has exited business rescue and sold a controlling stake to the South African subsidiary of Indian generic drug manufacturer Hetero, reports Business Day. This means supplies of the critical drugs will resume, as the company would step in to cover Barrs’ share of the tender. Barrs has also begun fulfilling outstanding orders for morphine powder, after a prolonged shortage at the end of last year it had attributed to increased global demand. Business rescue consultant Karl Gribnitz said Hetero South Africa would acquire 78% of the...

Deputy President’s son’s link to IDT oxygen plants controversy

Investigations into the now controversial R836m PSA oxygen plants tender have revealed that Thabiso Mashatile, son of Deputy President Paul Mashatile, had personally signed a bid submission register on behalf of a company vying for a slice of the lucrative tender. News24 reports that his signature appears on the register, dated July 2023, next to Modipadi Nokaneng’s bid submission – a company directed and owned by his close associates and previously exposed for allegedly benefitting from questionable Gauteng Health contracts. The company was eventually disqualified on the basis of its construction industry grading, but not before being shortlisted as a main...

Patient's 10-hour wait highlights Rahima Moosa staff crisis

A Johannesburg hospital has apologised to a couple who endured a frustrating 10-hour wait for attention last week, despite their pleas for help and the woman's request for pain medication, reports TimesLIVE. The woman’s husband eventually broke down down in tears in front of staff and patients at the Rahima Moosa Mother & Child Hospital, a moment he believes finally forced the system to respond. Silindokuhle Matabata said he and his wife had been to church in the morning, but shortly afterwards his wife, who was believed to be two weeks pregnant, began bleeding. “We went to a gynaecologist who referred us...

Western Cape diphtheria cases on the rise

The National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) has warned that cases of toxigenic respiratory diphtheria are increasing, particularly in the Western Cape, where booster dose vaccination against the disease has declined. Cape Times reports that while that province accounts for most cases of toxigenic respiratory diphtheria, a decrease in the uptake of Tdap (tetanus, diphtheria, and whooping cough) booster doses among older children is especially concerning and compounding the issue. The latest report from the NICD revealed that nationally, 91 laboratory-confirmed cases of toxigenic respiratory diphtheria were recorded between January 2024 and 18 January 2026, with the Western Cape accounting for...

Patient forced to travel 350km to treat broken finger

A broken finger that should have been easily treated turned into a major drama for an Eastern Cape patient, who was forced to travel 350km for treatment, according to the hospital board chair this week. News24 reports that the patient was referred from Aliwal North Hospital to Frere Hospital in East London last year after the facility in Maletswai (formerly Aliwal North) was unable to treat provide treatment because of a lack of resources. Frere Hospital board chairperson Bantwini Deliwe told senior Eastern Cape Department of Health officials in East London on Monday that staff at Frere were overwhelmed by referrals...

Nipah virus cases in India trigger Asian airport screenings

After the recording of two confirmed cases of the Nipah virus in West Bengal, India, authorities in parts of Asia – Singapore, Thailand and Malaysia – say they have put precautions in place, and tightened screening measures at airports, reports the BBC. Thailand has started screening passengers at three airports that receive flights from West Bengal, while Nepal has also begun screening arrivals at Kathmandu airport and other land border points with India. The two confirmed cases in West Bengal were reportedly in healthcare workers. Some 196 people who were in contact with them have been traced and tested negative for...

FDA halts two gene therapy trials after child develops brain tumour

Two investigational gene therapies for rare paediatric diseases have been put on hold by the US Food & Drug Administration (FDA) after a child treated in a clinical trial developed a brain tumour, according to RegenXBio last week. MedPage Today reports that the holds affect RGX-111 and RGX-121, therapies designed to treat mucopolysaccharidosis (MPS) type I and type II, also known as Hurler and Hunter syndromes. Both disorders involve a lysosomal enzyme deficiency that causes cells to become severely dysfunctional, leading to cognitive, functional and cardiac complications and death. The tumour was discovered during a routine MRI of a five-year-old child...

US doctor charged in battered baby case

A doctor has been released on $250 000 bail after his arrest in a child endangerment case in Ohio in which an infant was left with numerous broken bones. WTVG News reports that Dr Hanuman Gowda (31), who was a doctor at ProMedica Hospital in Monroe, was arrested on 9 January and charged with four counts of endangering a child and two counts of felonious assault. His case has been sent to a grand jury. Filings show the courts issued a no-contact order, prohibiting Gowda from seeing the child. Gowda and another person had taken the 10-week-old baby to Toledo Hospital for...

Africa CDC and Global Fund establish central data repository

A Central Data Repository (CDR) launched by the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) aims to strengthen how public health data are integrated, analysed and used across the continent at a time of growing and increasingly complex health risks, the agency has announced. While improvements have been made in outbreak detection and reporting, Africa’s public health data remain fragmented and dispersed across multiple systems that are very often not interoperable, it said. This limits the ability of countries and regional institutions to rapidly synthesise information, identify emerging risks and translate data into timely and co-ordinated public health action. The...

Paarl Hospital arson-accused was a psychiatric patient at facility

A 35-year-old man who appeared in court last Thursday accused of starting a fire at Paarl Provincial Hospital was a psychiatric patient at the facility, reports News24. The state alleged that video footage and eyewitness accounts link Morné Dampies to the blaze, which led to evacuation of the outpatient department and disrupted critical services at the hospital. The matter has been postponed to 5 February for bail information and for a media application to have court proceedings recorded and streamed live. Parts of the hospital remain temporarily unusable, with services being reorganised to ensure continuing patient care Western Cape Health & Wellness MEC...

‘Hypnotic’ UK doctor cleared of sexual misconduct

A British medical tribunal has, for the second time, cleared a doctor of sexual misconduct after he was accused of talking to female patients in a “hypnotic way” and allegedly making one remove her clothes, reports the BBC. One complainant had previously accused Neill Charles Garrard of “hypnosis-style chanting” and telling her “you will lust for me”, while another patient told the panel he made her undress unnecessarily and had used a “weird... soothing voice”. But in February 2025, a High Court judge ordered the Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service (MPTS) to hear the case again, saying it had made legal errors....

Kenya’s NHI loses billions to fraud

Kenya’s Health Cabinet has revealed that the government lost Sh11bn through fraudulent and irregular medical claims under the new Social Health Authority (SHA) system, blaming health facilities for attempting to carry over corrupt practices from the defunct NHIF (National Health Insurance Fund) scheme. Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale said an audit conducted after he took over the Ministry in April last year uncovered widespread manipulation of claims submitted between October and April, shortly after the roll-out of SHA, reports allAfrica. The amount represents rejected claims that failed basic medical and legal verification standards, and had been presented to Parliament’s Health Committee for...

MEDICO-LEGAL

Embattled Stellenbosch doctor now faces charges over patient’s death

A South African radiologist with practices countrywide – who is already facing allegations of impairment linked to opioid abuse, and has been charged with firing a gun in a public space – has now been accused of causing the death of a patient at Mooimed Private Hospital in Potchefstroom two years ago. News24 reports that Dr Pieter Henning, who is facing criminal charges for discharging his firearm in Stellenbosch last year, is also the subject of an inquiry by the Health Professions Council of SA (HPCSA) after allegations of impairment linked to opioids. The HPCSA’s health committee was expected to meet...

Midwife denies responsibility for babies’ disabilities, deaths

Former Pretoria midwife Yolande Maritz Fouchee, charged with assault and culpable homicide, denied responsibility for two babies born with disabilities – one dying shortly after birth and another being declared dead at birth. IOL reports that she appeared this week in the Gauteng High Court facing 14 charges after claims that she did not heed the risk factors of several of her clients at her You&Me birth clinic in Pretoria East. It is also claimed she allowed her teenage daughter, who may not be named, to assist her with the births. Other charges include that she gave some clients the abortion medication...

‘Hypnotic’ UK doctor cleared of sexual misconduct

A British medical tribunal has, for the second time, cleared a doctor of sexual misconduct after he was accused of talking to female patients in a “hypnotic way” and allegedly making one remove her clothes, reports the BBC. One complainant had previously accused Neill Charles Garrard of “hypnosis-style chanting” and telling her “you will lust for me”, while another patient told the panel he made her undress unnecessarily and had used a “weird... soothing voice”. But in February 2025, a High Court judge ordered the Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service (MPTS) to hear the case again, saying it had made legal errors....

SOME RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS IN THE PAST WEEK

ONCOLOGY

Two-pronged therapeutic technology for cancer wins 2026 Pfizer Prize

A team from Geneva University Hospital (HUG) and the University of Geneva (UNIGE) has won Switzerland’s prestigious 2026 Pfizer Prize for Biomedical Research for developing a personalised therapeutic cancer...

WOMEN’S HEALTH

Menopause linked to Alzheimer’s-like brain changes – Cambridge study

British scientists have suggested that menopause is linked to changes in the brain similar to those seen in Alzheimer’s, and that hormone replacement therapy (HRT) appears not to prevent...

GENOMICS

Wits team leads African genome mapping project

A team of Wits scientists is leading an ambitious project to analyse hundreds of human genomes from African populations, paving the way to a better understanding of the complex...

CARDIOLOGY

Semaglutide shows heart benefits in key group – global study

An analysis by an international team of researchers has concluded that taking oral semaglutide may reduce heart-related hospitalisations and deaths among those with a history of heart failure and...

Men’s heart attack risk speeds up in their 30s – US study

Experts have recommended that screening for heart attack risk in men should start earlier than for women, warning that cardiovascular disease (CVD) starts climbing when men are in their mid-30s. For their...

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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