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Medico-Legal
Vet clinic forks out for emotional damages after dog burnt
The Pierre van Ryneveld Veterinary Clinic in Pretoria has to pay emotional damages to the owners of a Yorkshire Terrier – Triesie – who...
Charges dropped against US doctor who destroyed Covid jabs
The United States Attorney-General has ordered charges to be dropped against a plastic surgeon accused of destroying Covid-19 vaccines worth $28 000, distributing fake...
Teetering emergency services add to medico-legal woes
South Africa's severe shortage of ambulances and urgent care beds at hospitals, resulting in emergency medical services buckling under the pressure, are putting lives...
UK doctor jailed for biker’s death after reckless overtaking
A doctor in Britain whose dangerous driving caused the death of a motorcyclist has been sentenced to three years behind bars and had his...
Millions in medico-legal claims shackle KZN Health
Negligence claims continue to burden the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Health, with documents from 2024 revealing 2 440 claims valued at R29.1bn, and the number...
NPA yet to pursue Life Esidimeni prosecutions
Nine years after the Life Esidimeni tragedy, which resulted in the deaths of 144 mental health patients and in which more than 1 400...
Surgeon banned from private practice still works for NHS
A colorectal surgeon who has been banned from working for a private healthcare company in England – after an investigation into patient safety –...
German police investigate doctors for patient deaths
A doctor suspected of killing several patients is being investigated by German police, who have already done a number of autopsies and exhumations linked...
Pregnant doctor, medical groups sue over Kennedy’s Covid jab rules
Medical and public health organisations have sued the United States Department of Health and Human Services and its Secretary over changes to the country’s...
Jury awards $2.25m to decapitated baby’s parents after autopsy posted online
A US jury awarded $2.35m damages against a pathologist who shared – on social media – pictures of a baby decapitated during birth, reports NBC....
British military aircrew sue after cancer diagnoses
Britain’s Ministry of Defence (MoD) is being sued by at least 180 current and former armed forces aircrew who have cancer which they claim...
Judge scathing of ‘expert’ evidence in child’s brain injury case
Medical experts who concluded – merely by looking at photographs – that a child had suffered brain injuries after a car accident, came under...
UK police arrest hospital bosses for gross negligence manslaughter
Three senior hospital managers have been arrested by British police on suspicion of gross negligence manslaughter as part of investigations into nurse Lucy Letby,...
Checkers employee’s dismissal for Covid mask violation upheld
A former Checkers employee was unsuccessful in his bid to get his job back after being fired for failing to wear a mask during...
Prison warden fired for refusal to take inmate to hospital
A former Department of Correctional Services (DCS) employee has been dismissed for insubordination after refusing to escort an ill inmate to hospital, the order...
UK Appeal Court: 'Reckless disregard' and spinal injury in rugby match
A British Court of Appeal (CoA) has upheld a ruling that a rugby player who ran full speed into an opponent was liable for...
Tembisa Hospital ‘kingpin’ nailed by SARS on tax charges
The South African Revenue Service (SARS) has swooped on Tembisa Hospital “syndicate kingpin” Stefan Govindraju – linked to more than 56 shell companies that raked...
‘Toilet rolls for R300 000’ – Gauteng Health still does dodgy deals
The DA has demanded that the Gauteng Health Department stop buying from companies linked to the fishy Tembisa Hospital contracts, which resulted in the...
Ambulance driver wins, lawyer found negligent, in RAF case
A Cape Town law firm – W Van Der Schyff Attorneys – has been found to have been negligent in dealing with a Road...
Probe into death of North West psychiatric patient
A nine-member investigation team has been appointed by North West Health MEC Sello Lehari to probe the death of a long-term patient at Witrand...
After 25 years and R20m, ‘Dr Death’ seeks permanent stay order against HPCSA
Over the course of a quarter of a century, the Health Professions Council of SA has tried and failed at a cost of more...
Judge dismisses damages claim for unconscious claimant
The Supreme Court of Appeal last week made a ground-breaking judgment regarding general damages to be paid by health authorities to an “unconscious claimant”,...
SAMA calls for expulsion of Wouter Basson from register
The South African Medical Association (SAMA) SA is being supported by the EFF in its calls for cardiologist Dr Wouter Basson to be removed...
Czech fake ‘dentist’ used online instructions for complex procedures
Czech police have charged a 22-year-old fake dentist and two assistants after they had treated dozens of unsuspecting patients using instructions found on the...
Purdue Pharma $7.4bn opioid settlement gets thumbs up
A massive settlement of $7.4bn from Purdue Pharma – to resolve thousands of opioid lawsuits against the company and its owners, the Sackler family...
Norwegian doctor jailed for raping patients
A court in Norway has sentenced a doctor to 21 years in prison for the rape and sexual abuse of dozens of women, in...
Court 'gags' Carte Blanche over cardiologist's malpractice claims
The KZN High Court (Pietermaritzburg) has effectively gagged TV programme Carte Blanche from airing a story about patients who accuse a Durban cardiologist of...
Wouter Basson accuses HPCSA of ‘persecution’
Wouter “Dr Death” Basson, who believes he is being “persecuted” by the Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA), says charges relating to his...
Mother awarded R540 000 for late child’s brain damage
An Mpumalanga mother has been awarded R540 000 in damages after her son was born with severe cerebral palsy due to negligent staff at...
Psychologist to face misconduct probe over alleged ‘fabricated’ report
A Cape Town judge failed to be persuaded that he should halt an inquiry – for alleged unprofessional conduct – against a clinical psychologist...
Patients' alertness ignored in quest to harvest organs, finds US probe
Four years ago, an unconscious Kentucky man began to awaken as he was about to be removed from life support so his organs could...
Wouter Basson faces another HPCSA disciplinary
The Health Professions Council of SA (HPCSA) is busy with yet another disciplinary process against Dr Wouter Basson, cardiologist and former head of the...
Court declares mistrial in negligence case over Maradona’s death
An Argentinian court last week declared a mistrial in the case of seven health professionals accused of negligence in the death of soccer legend Diego...
French paedophile gets 20 years, but eligible for parole in 2030
Frenchman Joel Le Scouarnec, the former surgeon who has admitted sexually abusing hundreds of patients – mostly children, between 1989 and 2014 – has...
Rash of lawsuits accuse US doctor of ‘deforming’ faces
An eye doctor in Atlanta, USA, has denied any wrongdoing, despite 11 women claiming he disfigured them and ruined their lives, while the state...
Cape Town surgeon accused of harassment asked to leave hospital
A Cape Town general surgeon accused of inappropriate conduct by a patient and harassment of female staff, and who has been dismissed from Mediclinic...
Midwife accused of ‘ignoring pleas’ to admit mother to private hospital
The mother of a baby born with severe brain damage testified last Friday that she was taken to the wrong hospital by her now...
Eastern Cape MEC hit with another negligence claim
A R5m medical negligence claim is to be launched against the Eastern Cape Health MEC after the Eastern Cape High Court (Bhisho) last week...
Inquiry after baby lands on floor during birth
A Limpopo mother from whose pleas for help were dismissed when she went into labour, and whose baby was born and fell to the...
Victims of rapist surgeon in child abuse trial question apathy
Members of a campaign group formed by victims of France’s most prolific paedophile, a former surgeon whose trial ended this week, are outraged at...