HomeMedico-Legal
Medico-Legal
Court upholds dismissal of doctor who used cocaine
The Western Cape Labour Court has upheld the dismissal of a Hermanus doctor for alleged cocaine use, disagreeing with the arbitrator’s finding that it...
Judge rejects Eastern Cape’s bid to pay damages in instalments
An Eastern Cape High Court judge has drawn the line regarding the provincial MEC’s offer to pay off – in instalments – the nearly...
US jury awards $14m to women molested by their doctor
A United States jury has awarded $14m to three women who were sexually assaulted by their doctor and who subsequently sued him and the...
Hospital probes how elderly patient was discharged with bruises
The family of Elizabeth Fosa (87) from Khutsong South is demanding answers after she was discharged from Carletonville Hospital with severe bruises on her...
UK’s infected blood scandal victims dying while waiting for payouts
Campaigners are seething as victims of Britain’s infected blood scandal die at a rate of two a week while waiting for compensation, saying payouts...
Cape Town surgeon suspended for alleged harassment
A Cape Town surgeon has been removed from his Panorama Hospital rooms after allegations of inappropriate conduct from a patient and harassment of female...
US court denies fired nurse’s bid to reinstate licence
The Tennessee Court of Appeals has denied former nurse RaDonda Vaught’s bid to have her licence reinstated, after her conviction in March 2022 of...
Gynaecologist not at fault for perforation, judge says
A Cape Town woman has been ordered to pay part of the legal costs of a case – which the judge dismissed – in...
Purdue Pharma files new bankruptcy plan in opioid case
Bankrupt drugmaker Purdue Pharma, owned by the wealthy Sackler family, filed a new bankruptcy plan on Tuesday, a major step towards finalising a proposed...
Cerebral palsy damages award too high, court rules
Three judges described as overly-generous the R28.8m award by the KZN High Court (Pietermaritzburg) to the mother of a child with cerebral palsy.
The KwaZulu-Natal...
Court gives the nod to surrogate for sixth C-section
The Gauteng High Court said there is no specific rule or regulation in the country guiding or regulating the maximum time a woman can...
Nurses ignore teen mum who gives birth to twins alone
An Ekurhuleni hospital has denied ignoring the pleas for help from a 15-year-old girl who gave birth to twins on her own. Neither of...
Four charged after boy’s hyperbaric chamber explosion death
Four people have been charged in the death of a five-year-old American boy who was “incinerated” inside a pressurised oxygen chamber that exploded at...
Medics who treated Maradona on trial for homicide
Seven members of the medical team that treated Argentinian football legend Diego Maradona before his death went on trial for homicide this week in...
Trump order on transgender care foiled again in court
Days after a Seattle judge blocked Donald Trump’s executive order on gender transition care for youths in a lawsuit brought by Attorneys-General, a US...
Not guilty verdict ‘huge relief’ for entire profession – Peter Beale
Former paediatric surgeon Peter Beale (78) – recently found not guilty of murder, culpable homicide and fraud in the deaths of three children on...
Mother sentenced for Gems fraud after daughter dies under false ID
A mother whose daughter died in hospital last year has been convicted and handed a suspended sentence by the Bloemfontein Magistrate’s Court for defrauding...
SA Defence Force sued for R5m for ‘disfiguring’ woman
Botched surgery to her arm killed any chances an aspirant SANDF chef had to achieve her dream 12 years ago, leaving her limb deformed,...
Surgeon admits he is ‘a pervert’ and abused children
A former French surgeon, on trial for sexually abusing hundreds of patients, told the court he’d used his status as a doctor to attack...
US gynaecologist charged with sexual abuse, reusing devices
A Memphis, Tennessee gynaecologist who is accused of sexually abusing four women, and reusing unsanitary medical devices in unnecessary procedures, was arrested on Friday,...
British paediatric surgeon suspended for ‘below standard’ ops
An orthopaedic surgeon who specialises in treating children has been suspended from a hospital in Cambridge, England, after nine surgeries were found to fall...
Paediatric surgeon Peter Beale acquitted of murder and fraud
Paediatric surgeon Peter Beale was acquitted on murder and fraud charges this week, bringing relief to him and the medical profession which saw the...
Staff 'turned blind eye' to rape-accused French surgeon’s crimes, trial hears
Victims and activists are questioning why nothing was done to stop a French paedophile surgeon from working with children, even though they were aware...
Parents jailed for withholding insulin from dying daughter
The parents of an eight-year-old Australian girl who died after they withheld her insulin – encouraged by members of a small Christian sect who...
White US woman sues after having black baby in IVF error
A US woman who unknowingly carried and delivered a baby boy who was not biologically hers has launched legal proceedings against an IVF clinic...
US court upholds Theranos founder’s conviction
A San Francisco court has upheld the conviction of Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes – who defrauded investors out of hundreds of millions of dollars...
J&J makes third attempt to resolve $10bn talc settlement
Opponents have accused Johnson & Johnson of “vote-rigging” in its latest efforts to resolve thousands of lawsuits alleging its baby powder causes ovarian cancer.
On Tuesday,...
US pain clinics made millions from unnecessary jabs, court hears
A multi-state pain management company – once among America’s most prolific users of what it referred to as “tendon origin injections” – administered thousands...
US sperm donor to 180 children slammed by Welsh judge
A British judge has warned of the dangers of unregulated sperm donation, after a man claiming to have fathered more than 180 children tried...
Kidney removal patient wins negligence case
A man who was shot in the lower back five years ago and endured lifesaving surgery – but then subsequently, had to remove his...
Court orders RAF to pay medical aid claimant’s past expenses
In a win for Discovery Health after lengthy legal wrangles, a Western Cape High Court has ruled that a previous judgment “did not change...
French surgeon on trial for sexually abusing hundreds of children
The biggest child abuse trial in French history will open in Brittany this month amid anger that a surgeon was allegedly able to attack...
Healthy babies aborted after scan misdiagnosis in new NHS scandal
An investigation has found that two British couples each made the decision to have a healthy foetus aborted because they were wrongly informed that...
Surgeon, hospital sued after wrong organ removed
An Alabama, USA widow is suing an inept doctor – with a history of errors – and a hospital for killing her husband by...
Mother, baby die as doctors watch YouTube to perform C-section
A bereaved husband has described how a medical team at Lebechi Hospital in Owerri, Nigeria, reportedly watched a YouTube tutorial while performing a Caesarean...
UK mesh victims still awaiting compensation
British women harmed by pelvic mesh implants are still waiting for government compensation a year after a call for urgent action by a major...
Health professionals penalised for yelling at patient, sexual harassment …
The latest rulings by the Health Professions Council of South Africa's misconduct inquiries include penalties for sexual harassment, shoddy post-operative treatment, and yelling at...
Finally, first payments agreed for listeriosis victims
Tiger Brands has reached an agreement with Richard Spoor Inc and LHL Attorneys to advance the first payments to listeriosis victims with urgent medical needs...
No evidence Lucy Letby killed babies, says panel of experts
Former British nurse Lucy Letby, currently serving 15 life terms behind bars, is the victim of “one of the major injustices of modern times”,...
Claim against UK firm for defective hip device can be heard in SA – judge
A British-based company has lost its legal bid to evade liability for installing a defective hip replacement system into a South African patient, with...