A Focus
Marriage significantly lowers dementia risk — meta-analysis
September 18th, 2019 Marriage may lower the risk of developing dementia, concludes a 15-study meta-analysis involving 800,000 participants. Lifelong singletons and widowers are at 42% higher risk of developing the disease, the findings indicate, although single status...
Graca Machel's bid before HPCSA to silence Mandela's former doctor
September 11th, 2019 Nelson Mandela’s widow Graça Machel is trying to prevent his former doctor from revealing sensitive information about the icon’s final years, reports the Weekend Argus. Dr Vejay Ramlakan is appearing before the professional conduct committee...
Human trial finds first hint that body's ‘biological age’ can be reversed
September 11th, 2019 In a small human trial, drugs seemed to rejuvenate the body’s ‘epigenetic clock’, which tracks a person’s biological age, writes Alison Abbott for Nature. Volunteers shed years of biological age and their immune systems were boosted,...
Large study over decades links optimism and prolonged life
September 4th, 2019 A large US study, following women for 10 years and men for 30 years, found that individuals with greater optimism are more likely to live longer and to achieve “exceptional longevity”, that is, living to age 85 or older. The most optimistic...
State healthcare workers may be targeted to pay back negligence claims
September 4th, 2019 Gauteng Health has warned employees it may recover some of the billions in damages claims it is facing from those responsible for the medical negligence, reports TimesSelect. Department head Professor Mkhululi Lukhele says in a recent staff...
Mkhize says a 'hard fight' ahead to improve SA's 'low quality ‘ healthcare
September 4th, 2019 Parliament has called for public submissions on the “constitutionally aligned” National Health Insurance (NHI) Bill, writes Legalbrief Policy Watch. Conceding that government “will need to invest strongly” in raising the standard of public...
Western Cape Health reversal over ‘theft’ of broken chairs
August 28th, 2019 In the face of widespread public disbelief and criticism, a Western Cape Health internal review has hastily reversed the findings of a disciplinary panel that fired one doctor and suspended two others after they “stole” two broken,...
Autism so over-diagnosed that term is becoming meaningless — study
August 28th, 2019 Autism is now so over-diagnosed, following the progressively lowering over 50 years of the diagnostic bar, that by 2029 there will be no objective difference between someone with the condition and the average non-autistic person, an international...
Suspension of public consultation 'fake news', says Health committee
August 28th, 2019 The National Assembly's Health Committee has denied the public consultation process on the National Health Insurance (NHI) Bill has been suspended pending the outcome of advice from the State Attorney, and says the process is firmly on...
Doctors' careers destroyed for 'stealing' broken chairs
August 21st, 2019 Western Cape Health, despite an acute and growing short of anaesthetists, has jeopardised the careers of three doctors with pristine academic and work records, because they “stole” two broken chairs to fix for the Tygerberg Hospital doctors' tea...
SCA displeasure over 'pervasively substandard' care in state hospitals
August 21st, 2019 Despite a split decision dismissing an appeal regarding damages for a baby who suffered brain damage during birth, in an unusual move, five judges of the Supreme Court of Appeal have asked Health Minister Dr Zweli Mkhize to intervene and...
NHI Bill continues to spark furious debate
August 21st, 2019 The battle lines are drawn between the naysayers and supporters of National Health Insurance after the Bill was introduced to Parliament over a week ago, writes MedicalBrief. Expert opinion on the NHI Bill before Parliament is divided between...
Uncertainty over many aspects of NHI but govt 'ready' for corruption
August 14th, 2019 Health Minister Dr Zweli Mkhize says the authorities are ready to tackle the threat of large-scale corruption to the National Health Insurance scheme, writes MedicalBrief. There is concern also over already escalating medical emigration, differing...
Emotional Support Animals pose legal, ethical and professional challenges
August 14th, 2019 The booming popularity of an increasingly exotic array of emotional support animals (ESAs) has created legal, ethical and professional challenges for the therapists who certify them. The American Psychological Association has published a study...
CMS inquiry told medical schemes 'a law unto themselves'
August 7th, 2019 Health Department deputy director-general Dr Anban Pillay told the Council for Medical Aid Schemes inquiry into allegations of racial profiling that there were “serious problems” with the medical scheme coding system currently used and that...