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Medico-Legal
New FDA Tylenol advice a potential boost for autism lawsuits
Families in the United States who have been appealing the dismissal of their lawsuits alleging that Kenvue’s Tylenol or generic versions caused their children’s...
US ‘pregnancy crimes’ escalate with hundreds of women charged
More than 400 American women have been charged with pregnancy-related crimes in the first two years since the US Supreme Court’s controversial overturning of...
US police crack major nursing scam tied to 7 000 fake diplomas
As part of a years-long investigation into a wide-ranging nursing scam involving – at the latest count – about 7 300 fake diplomas, federal...
Patient lodges appeal against Netcare privacy dispute ruling
Netcare was dealt a blow this week in a privacy case involving a patient, after the courts permitted Nicholaas de Jager to challenge a...
Bara midwives negligent, appeal court finds
The Gauteng High Court has dismissed an appeal by the provincial Department of Health, upholding a medical negligence finding relating to an episiotomy performed...
RAF ordered to reimburse scarred woman for laser treatment
The Western Cape High Court has instructed the Road Accident Fund (RAF) to reimburse a woman more than R200 000 for the laser treatment...
American device firm to pay $8m for faulty knee implants
US medical device manufacturer Exactech has agreed to pay $8m to settle allegations that it hid defects in a popular line of artificial knee...
Court rejects Mkhize's delay bid in Digital Vibes case
Former Health Minister Dr Zweli Mkhize was unsuccessful last week in his bid to delay the Special Investigating Unit’s (SIU) case pending his High...
Families blame patients’ deaths on doctor’s suspension
The families of patients of a suspended cardiologist are demanding answers from Life Westville Hospital, Durban, for the deaths of their loved ones, whom...
Doctor allegedly ‘poisoned patients to show off resuscitation skills’
A French doctor is on trial on accusations of deliberately poisoning patients undergoing surgery so he could resuscitate them when they went into cardiac...
No sanction for doctor who left patient during op for sex with nurse
A doctor in Britain who left a patient midway through an operation to have sex with a nurse is at “very low risk” of...
Kimberly-Clark to fork out millions for dodgy surgical gowns
US giant Kimberly-Clark has to pay up to $40.4m to resolve a criminal charge relating to its sale of adulterated MicroCool surgical gowns, with...
Indian doctor probed after doing 21 C-sections in 10 hours
A senior gynaecologist in Assam, India, who is under investigation after performing 21 emergency Caesarean deliveries within a single shift, has justified the numbers, saying...
Sex offender doctor challenges HPCSA's life-time ban
The Health Professions Council of SA (HPCSA) has permanently barred a doctor from practising, calling him a “remorseless” sex offender and labelling him a...
Health DG enters the legal fray over circumcision device
Director-General of Health Dr Sabelo Buthelezi has entered the legal argument over the award of a tender for a device to be used to...
US judge awards $1bn to family for botched birth
A Utah judge this month awarded nearly $1bn in damages to a family after a Salt Lake City hospital – six years ago –...
Kenyan Health Ministry cracks down on rampant fraud
The Kenyan Ministry of Health is determined to clean up the healthcare system, recently handing over 1 188 case files and supporting evidence to...
Psychiatrist suggests 'Ozempic-induced rage' led to stabbings
Ozempic has been blamed for a senseless attack in which an Australian grandmother apparently stabbed her daughter-in-law and young grandson, and who has since...
Kenyan hospitals in organ transplant probe
The Mediheal Group of Hospitals in Kenya and two other local facilities are under investigation for illegal organ harvesting after it was discovered that...
Gauteng Health ordered to treat cancer patients – immediately
The Gauteng High Court (Johannesburg) has instructed the provincial Department of Health to immediately provide cancer treatment to patients on a backlog list –...
HPCSA slammed as sex pest dentist continues to practise
A children’s rights organisation is accusing the Health Professions Council of SA (HPCSA) of dereliction of its duties by allowing a dentist sentenced for...
Treasury defends tender for allegedly “untested” circumcision device
The awarding of a tender by National Treasury for a circumcision device has been challenged in the Gauteng High Court (Pretoria), with accusations that...
Surgeon sued after botched transgender genital surgeries
A top United States surgeon who specialises in transgender operations is being sued by two patients who claim their procedures at Massachusetts General Hospital...
Life Esidimeni officials to be prosecuted for just two of the deaths
Families of those who died in appalling circumstances in the Life Esidimeni tragedy are furious that the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) has decided former...
Mother sues after baby swopped at birth
An Eastern Cape mother is suing the provincial Health Department for more than R1m after her baby was swopped at birth at Isilimela Hospital...
Nurses' negligence likely caused baby's brain damage – judge
Negligent nurses at a rural Eastern Cape hospital likely caused a baby's severe brain damage, an Eastern Cape judge has ruled, saying the child...
Hospital fires 15 nurses after girl (12) kills herself
A Washington children’s hospital sacked 15 nurses after a 12-year-old patient killed herself at the facility where she was advised to have 24-hour supervision,...
HPCSA blames Dr Death for case delay
Dr Wouter Basson is responsible for the delay in professional misconduct proceedings against him, according to the Health Professions Council of SA (HPCSA), which...
Patients sue NHS trust after over-prescription of cancer drug for years
More than 20 patients in Britain who say their quality of life was wrecked when they were unnecessarily given a highly toxic cancer drug...
Man alleges 'murder' of unborn son in unprecedented abortion case
In a legal first, a case in Texas seeks to establish “all current and future fathers of unborn children in the United States” as...
UK surgeon struck off after hundreds of unnecessary ops
A British surgeon who performed unnecessary bowel operations, using artificial mesh, and leaving dozens of patients in agony, has been struck off the roll...
SA doctor struck off UK roll for putting semen in woman’s drink
A South African doctor who was practising in the United Kingdom has been struck off the medical register “with immediate effect” after putting his...
Poor record-keeping adds to Eastern Cape medico-legal cases
A major driver of successful medical negligence cases against the Eastern Cape Health Department is its poor record-keeping, making it impossible for it to...
UK boy dies after being sent home due to ‘lack of beds’
The mother of a five-year-old boy who died after being sent home from a British hospital because of a “lack of beds” has told...
Legal precedent in SCA ruling to impact claims for brain injured
The recent Supreme Court of Appeal ruling relating to unconscious or severely incapacitated individuals is expected to have significant implications for medico-legal claims in...
Anaesthetists group urges caution after circumcision death
Experts have said caution should be exercised when administering the anaesthetic lignocaine, particularly in consulting rooms, and that although it is a safe, commonly...
Call for action as SA loses 6 000 doctors and nurses annually
Experts warn that urgent intervention is needed to deal with the staffing crisis in the healthcare sector, which has seen almost 6 000 doctors...
Nurses allegedly ignored patient who miscarried at KZN hospital
Hospital staff allegedly left a young patient ignored and unattended during and after her miscarriage, with the woman being forced to sit with the...
Surgeon chopped off his own legs for insurance payout
A British vascular surgeon who told insurers he’d had his legs amputated due to sepsis has been charged with fraud – after he’d claimed...
US doctor faces 40 years over actor Matthew Perry's ketamine death
One of the doctors accused of providing ketamine to American actor Matthew Perry (54), who died in October 2023, has pleaded guilty to four...