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Obesity's strong link to severe COVID outcomes, especially in under-40s and Black people
A study of 6.9m English patients found that people with excess weight, especially for younger adults and Black people, are at substantially increased risk...
Mortality 20x higher in pregnant women with COVID but SAHPRA says no to vaccination
US authorities this week advised pregnant women be inoculated — based on a study of the Moderna/Pfizer vaccines — at the same time that...
At last, serious efforts to repurpose generic drugs to treat COVID-19
More than a year into the pandemic, billions of dollars have been spent on developing vaccines and expensive novel treatments, but very little on...
AG warns urgent intervention needed to prevent provincial health collapse
South Africa's Auditor-General has warned that without urgent intervention, a number of provincial health services face collapse, writes MedicalBrief. Outstanding medico-legal claims amount to...
ConCourt judgment is an opportunity to resurrect Bill on state liability
While the recent Constitutional Court ruling that the courts may order alternative compensation to those injured as a result of medical negligence is sound...
Study on keeping middle seats in planes vacant raises the ire of airlines
Keeping the middle seats vacant during a flight could reduce passengersʼ exposure to airborne coronavirus by 23%- 57%, researchers reported in a study that...
ConCourt confirms alternative compensation remedy for negligence
The Constitutional Court has ruled that South African courts will now be able to consider ordering alternative compensation – instead of a lump-sum payment...
Injected antibody cocktail cuts COVID-19 infection risk by over 80%
A single injected administration of Regeneron's monoclonal antibody cocktail cuts the risk of developing COVID-19 by over 80%, reports MedicalBrief. Antibody drugs may give...
'Insensitive and disrespectful' to treat dead foetus as 'medical waste'
The Gauteng High Court (Pretoria) has declared sections of the Births and Deaths Registration Act (BDRA) – which deems a foetus of less...
Lancet removes hyped preprint on efficacy of vitamin D for COVID-19
A widely promoted preprint, claiming that vitamin D led to an “80% reduction in need for ICU and a 60% reduction in deaths” has...
WHO report on COVID-19's Wuhan origins 'raises more questions than answers'
More than a year after the coronavirus pandemic began, the World Health Organisation has released its report laying out how the virus spread to...
Scientists savage SA's reasoning and ethics on vaccine choices
The reasoning behind the National Department of Health and the Ministerial Advisory Committee on Vaccines refusing to use the AstraZeneca vaccine locally are “muddled”,...
State-employed practitioners and the limits to their medical indemnity
Although State-employed medical doctors have indemnity against legal claims, this is not an absolute protection, write two Medical Protection experts in MedicalBrief. As well...
The diet dog fight: Keto vs Vegan in Nature Medicine
Although the endless, petty "tribalism and arguments" around diet are tiresome, a recent head-to-head study between low-carb and low-fat diets is worth serious discussion,...
'Sobering' findings on natural protection against COVID-19 reinfection
A massive Danish study found only 80% natural protection from SARS-CoV-2 reinfection in general, declining to 47% in the elderly, reports MedicalBrief. A commentary...
CDC's health sector masking guidelines were a deadly mistake
Until a month ago, the gold-standard guidelines on health sector mask usage were based on the belief that N95 masks should be reserved for...
Political blows to AstraZeneca vaccine may boost vax hesitancy
Despite the World Health Organisation and the European regulator backing continued use, inoculations using the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine have been suspended in numerous countries, in what...
STEP 2 trial: Semaglutide hope for patients with type 2 diabetes
Type 2 diabetes patients treated with the new drug Semaglutide achieved an average weight loss of nearly 10kg and a significant improvement in blood...
Ivermectin fails as COVID-19 treatment in limited Colombian trial
COVID-19 patients treated with the controversially repurposed drug Ivermectin in a randomised Colombian trial did no better than a placebo group, reports MedicalBrief. However,...
Madhi's plea to government: Don't waste the AstraZeneca vaccine
Professor Shabir Madhi, eminent Medical Research Council vaccinologist and principal investigator in the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine trial locally, has urged the Health Department not to...
Fresh criticism of 'dysfunctional' HPCSA after Ramdhin debacle
Yet another collapsed Health Professions Council of SA disciplinary hearing has brought new criticism of an organisation that a ministerial task ream six years...
Still no definitive answer on Vitamin D3 to treat COVID-19
Among patients with moderate to severe COVID-19 there was no difference in length of hospital stay in those given a single 200,000-IU dose of...
'Significant' risk to dispensing SA's unregistered Ivermectin
Four out of five Ivermectin tablets tested in South Africa had at least one unregistered active pharmaceutical ingredient, writes MedicalBrief. This had “significant potential safety...
More data backs high efficacy of single-dose Pfizer jab but Fauci sceptical
Israeli, Canadian and UK studies showing a single dose of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine is 85% effective is not changing the two-dose policy of the...
South Africa's AstraZeneca vaccine now on 'half-price' sale
The muddled acquisition AstraZeneca vaccine from India, found on delivery to have an April expiry date and not the normal six-month one, continues, writes...
Regulatory approval sought for 'gamechanger' obesity drug
More than a third (35%) of people who took a new drug for treating obesity lost more than one-fifth (≥20%) of their total body...
Preventive blood thinners link to reduced risk of death in COVID-19
Patients given prophylactic anticoagulants within 24 hours of admission to hospital with COVID-19 was associated with a decreased risk of 30 day mortality and...
SA needs 'all hands on deck' to avoid vaccine chaos — Scientists' Collective
For South Africans to get their lives back, they need vaccines by winter and herd immunity against COVID-19, says a Scientists’ Collective of 15...
Newest cellphones may pose 'significant risk' to pacemakers and ICDs
There has been little compelling evidence that smartphones pose a significant danger to users of medical devices such as implantable cardiac defibrillators (ICD). Until...
SA changes course in vaccine rollout
Faced with its first-choice Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine showing showing low efficacy against the South African variant of the coronavirus, the Department of Health has responded...
Medical scheme resistance to ‘unfair’ vaccine funding model grows
The Department of Health’s funding model for South Africa's vaccination roll-out is “inherently unfair, unethical and illegal”, Profmed CEO Craig Comrie told MedicalBrief in...
Hawks and SAHPRA raid for ‘COVID cure' blocked by SANDF
The elite Hawks and the medical regulator SAHPRA were sent packing after an armed stand-off with the SA National Defence Force police during a...
Novavax highly protective against Kent variant but less against SA variant
The Novavax vaccine is highly protective of the Kent variant of COVID-19 but less so against the South African variant, writes MedicalBrief. “At the...
COLCORONA trial: Is gout-drug colchicine set to be the next Ivermectin?
An unpublished international clinical trial claims "clinically persuasive" evidence of the efficacy of the gout-drug colchicine to treat COVID-19, writes MedicalBrief. Compared to placebo,...
Polypill plus aspirin reduces incidence of cardiovascular events by 31% — TIPS-3
Researchers have found that combined treatment with a polypill plus aspirin led to a 31% lower incidence of cardiovascular events than did placebo among...
HPCSA will take yet another try at a disciplinary hearing into Basson
The Health Professions Councilis to launch a fresh disciplinary action against apartheid era chemical warfare specialist Dr Wouter Basson, writes MedicalBrief. The HPCSA's earlier...
Fact File: Making sense of the Ivermectin controversy
Fanned by despair and social media, there has been a massive movement, both locally and internationally, for the immediate repurposing of anti-parasitic drug Ivermectin...
Inquiry finds schemes discriminated against black healthcare providers
Some of South Africa’s biggest medical aid schemes practised "unfair racial discrimination" in their fraud, waste and abuse investigations of black healthcare providers, found...
A daily alcoholic drink and atrial fibrillation risk — Large 14-year study
A study in the European Heart Journal of nearly 108,000 people has found that people who regularly drink a modest amount of alcohol are...
Catching up to ‘Long COVID’ — Diagnostic and treatment information, at last
‘Long COVID’ – a version of COVID-19 that results in continued illness of a significant number of people for many months after the initial...