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Medico-Legal
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...
Surgeon sued after removing woman’s kidney instead of spleen
A US woman is suing a surgeon and a hospital after a medical mistake that cost her a healthy left kidney, with Wendy Rappaport...
Lawsuits mount as weight-loss drug users lose vision
More than a dozen lawsuits have been filed on behalf of weight-loss drug users who claim that popular weight-loss medications like Ozempic have caused a...
Midwife blames baby’s cerebral palsy on mother’s infection
Midwife Yolande Maritz Fouchee, facing 14 charges in the Gauteng High Court (Pretoria) – including one of culpable homicide – and accused of causing...
Court orders ban on Adcock using painkiller’s name
The Gauteng High Court (Pretoria) has barred Adcock Ingram from selling and distributing its new painkiller, Lenbucod, finding it infringed Aspen’s Mybucod trademark rights...
$750m settlement for hundreds of sex abuse claims against gynae
Prestigious US institutions Columbia University and New York-Presbyterian Hospital have agreed to a $750m settlement of hundreds of sexual abuse claims by patients of disgraced...
Tiger Brands to settle some listeriosis claims – seven years later
Although Tiger Brands’ liability for the listeriosis outbreak in 2017/18 has yet to be determined in court, the company has agreed to settle certain...
PE woman still waiting for payment after decade-long negligence battle
Five years after winning a 10-year negligence battle in the Supreme Court of Appeal against the Eastern Cape Health Department, Felicia Meyers is still...
US man sues for blindness after taking Ozempic
An American who lost his sight after taking Ozempic for his diabetes is suing Novo Nordisk for what he says is a failure to...
No bail for fake surgeon charged with woman’s death after implant removal
A man accused of posing as a plastic surgeon has been indicted on manslaughter charges after a woman he operated on died after a...
Woman’s jaw broken during tooth extraction
A British woman has received a £10 000 out-of-court settlement after her jaw was broken during a tooth extraction, leading to a series of...
Murder probe after man’s death post surgery ‘without consent’
North West police have launched a murder investigation into the death of a Mozambican mineworker during a high-risk procedure at a private Rustenburg hospital,...
Patient’s Groote Schuur ordeal prompts departmental probe
Western Cape Health has launched an inquiry into Groote Schuur Hospital (GSH) after accusations of negligence and emotional abuse by a patient transferred there...
Court grants widow right to dead husband’s sperm
A widow has won a legal case confirming she is entitled to use the frozen sperm of her dead husband to have another child,...
Judge allows expert testimony in suit against US baby formula firm
A Chicago federal judge last week said she would allow expert testimony that a premature baby cow’s milk-based formula – made by Mead Johnson,...
Another patient claims Headache Clinic doctor was negligent
Former Headache Clinic specialist Dr Elliot Shevel (81), facing murder charges after a patient died after one of his treatments in 2021, has been...
Limpopo doctor accused of attempted rape of patient
The Limpopo Health Department is investigating – in tandem with a police inquiry – after a doctor allegedly attempted to rape a patient at George...