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Medico-Legal
South African scientists say Pfizer jab legal challenge ‘baseless’
Legal claims aiming to link Pfizer’s vaccine with a spike in adverse reactions, including disability and death, have been dismissed by scientists, who said...
More players join lawsuit for concussion-related disorders
A group of more than 150 former soccer, rugby league and rugby union players suffering from neurological impairments have joined a class-action lawsuit against...
J&J proposes settlement of billions in talc cancer claims
Johnson & Johnson has proposed an $8.9bn settlement to resolve lawsuits claiming its talc products caused cancer, after a ruling last week that its...
UK judges rule that medics can be named in babies deaths suits
British judges have ruled that two families – who want restrictions lifted on naming medics involved in their children’s disputed care – can continue...
Nigerian couple faces prison in UK in organ-harvesting case
After a landmark trial in Britain, a wealthy Nigerian politician and his wife are facing jail for an organ-harvesting plot involving a UK hospital...
Sandton doctor linked to escaped 'Facebook' rapist not registered: HPCSA
Well-known Sandton personality Nandipha Magudumana, founder of Optimum Medical Aesthetics, a skincare clinic specialising in non-surgical treatments like Botox, who has been linked to...
HPCSA misconduct hearing for doctor with previous charges, suspensions
A gynaecologist who was struck from the UK register in 2006 for “persistent dishonesty over more than a decade”, “flagrant disregard for his responsibilities...
AstraZeneca sued over jab side effects
AstraZeneca is under legal fire from dozens of people over a side effect of its Covid-19 vaccine – a rare condition involving blood clots...
State's Covid-19 fraud cases total R1.8bn
The Financial Intelligence Centre has its hands full with investigations into Covid-19 fraud, and has helped recover criminal assets relating to PPE and TERS...
Court grants R16m and free medical care in Easter Cape negligence case
The Eastern Cape Health Department has been ordered by the Eastern Cape High Court (Mthatha) to cough up R16m in damages to the mother of...
Million-dollar pay-out after loss of embryos, eggs over fertility clinic malfunction
An appeal of a US landmark jury verdict awarding nearly $15m to five people who lost embryos and eggs in a fertility clinic mishap...
RAF turns to Appeals Court over medical aids directive ruling
The Road Accident Fund (RAF) has now appealed to the Supreme Court of Appeal to overturn a judgment declaring its directive that no payments...
Doctor gets green light to sue colleague over amputation
A Standerton doctor who was shot during a robbery and whose colleagues then amputated his leg has got the court's go-ahead to prove the...
NHS to pay to £25 000 to SA nurse for racial slurs
A black South African nurse, working at an immigrant removal centre at Heathrow, was awarded £25 000 after suing the National Health Service (NHS)...
Crucial Tembisa Hospital corruption evidence stolen
A cellphone belonging to suspended Gauteng Health Department HoD Lerato Madyo, which was vital evidence in the R850m fraud and corruption probe into Tembisa...
Paediatrician testifies in five-year-old's abuse and murder case
The paediatrician giving evidence in the abuse and murder trial of a five-year-old girl told the Western Cape High Court last week that he had...
Discovery battles for affordable cystic fibrosis drug
While an international campaign by patient advocates and health activists gathers momentum, Discovery Health says it has been negotiating with US pharmaceutical manufacturer Vertex...
Limpopo ex-Health boss fails in pension access bid
Former Limpopo Health HoD Thokozani Mhlongo has failed in her bid to unfreeze her pension, with a Special Tribunal dismissing her application to reconsider...
Woman arrested for running bogus nursing colleges
A woman accused of running bogus nursing colleges and registering unsuspecting students under the pretext that they would acquire diplomas, was arrested last weekend...
Eastern Cape Health boosts legal teams to fight bogus medical claims
The Eastern Cape provincial Health Department is tackling bogus medical negligence team head on, beefing up its artillery of legal defences with a mass...
Nurse on misconduct charges for shaming patient who miscarried
An Eastern Cape nurse has been suspended and faces misconduct charges after allegations that she not only verbally abused a young patient (23) after...
US insulin infusion doctor barred from solo practice
A US doctor, found guilty of gross negligence, incompetence and unprofessional conduct, has been placed on seven years’ probation and barred from operating a...
Tiger Brands listeriosis class action still awaiting trial date
Litigation in the listeriosis class action suit will proceed later this year while parties continue to build their case against Tiger Brands, with nearly 70...
Parents of abused child jailed after doctors sought private prosecution
Doctors who had twice examined a badly beaten up six-month-old girl in Pretoria and concluded that she was a victim of repeated abuse, sought...
Doctor (84) charged with fraud over false death certification
The Hawks’ serious commercial crime investigation unit has charged a Durban doctor (84) with fraud for certifying the “death” of someone who was still...
More SA women join vaginal mesh legal suit as J&J suffers US defeat
As Johnson & Johnson this week lost a bid in the US Supreme Court to overturn a $302m judgment in a case brought by...
New charges for thrice-suspended Cape doctor
Alleged serial offending Cape Town gynaecologist/obstetrician Ganes Anil Ramdhin, who continues to practise medicine because of administrative bungles, has been slapped with fresh charges.
In...
Court battle looms over lifesaving cystic fibrosis drug
A new class of drugs that could extend the lives of hundreds of cystic fibrosis (CF) patients in South Africa is out of reach...
Child’s health declines as Tiger Brands listeriosis case drags on
The parents of a baby who contracted listeriosis in her mother’s womb in 2017 are still awaiting finalisation of the class action case lodged...
Employee in court for alleged ‘kickback’ from Digital Vibes tender
A Municipal Infrastructure Support Agent (MISA) employee is on trial for corruption after allegations she received a R160 000 bribe that came directly from...
MEC liable for paramedics' negligence in handling boy's rugby injury
The Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) has dismissed an appeal by North West Education MEC Viola Motsumi against a High Court judgment finding her...
Unregistered doctors arrested in the Cape
Two doctors, neither of whom is registered with the Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA), have been arrested in the Western Cape and appeared...
Eastern Cape ruling could change how medico-legal claims are settled
A precedent set by the recent Eastern Cape High Court (Bhisho) ruling freeing the Eastern Cape Health Department from paying out lump sums to...
Post Office’s MediPos under curatorship
After years of financial difficulties, MediPos, the medical aid provider for SA Post Office (Sapo) employees, is to be placed under curatorship, after an...
Top brass at eThekwini charged over E.coli levels, sewage spills
Criminal charges have been laid by the Department of Economic Development, Tourism & Environmental Affairs (Edtea) against eThekwini Metro officials, with court papers outlining...
Doctor charged in Sassa disability grant fraud case
A medical doctor in Limpopo was among a group of 15 people – which also included a former South African Social Security Agency (Sassa)...
US AGs weigh in on court battle over access to abortion medicines
A US lawsuit seeking a court order blocking nationwide access to a drug used in medication abortion created a furore last week, with scores...
Calls for specialised medical courts as top surgeon hit with more charges
Health professionals groups have called for specialised medical courts or alternative processes to deal with criminal charges against medical professionals, saying such allegations should...
SCA rules against mining groups’ in silicosis suit
The Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) has dismissed a bid by two mining companies to challenge a court certification of a class action that...
1 500 more patients of jailed UK breast surgeon recalled
Spire Healthcare, a British company that runs private hospitals in the UK, is now recalling another 1 500 patients of former breast surgeon Ian Paterson, who...