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Medico-Legal
Two diabetes drug firms sued over ‘stomach paralysis’ claim
Pharmaceutical giants Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly are being sued for failing to adequately warn patients about the possible risk of severe stomach problems...
Murders, suicide would be a 'happy ending’, believed Dickason
The final witness in the murder trial of South African doctor Lauren Dickason told the High Court in New Zealand this week that she...
Meds mix-up blamed for US patient’s hospital death
Despite a lethal medication mix-up causing the death last year of an 81-year-old man in the US, who died 48 hours after being given...
Legal clash between Pfizer and GSK over RSV shot
British biopharmaceutical giant GSK has sued Pfizer in a US court, alleging that the latter’s respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vaccine Abrysvo violates GSK’s patent rights in its...
HPCSA disciplinaries: negligence, fraud and sexual impropriety
Another suspension for oft-suspended general practitioner, a paramedic holds an employee against her will, and a R50 000 fine for sexual impropriety in a...
Discovery appeals dismissal of application for RAF to resume payments
Discovery Health CEO Ryan Noach says the company has appealed the dismissal by the Gauteng High Court (Pretoria) of its application seeking to compel...
No evidence of insanity when Dickason killed children, court hears
Despite Lauren Dickason’s defence team arguing that she suffered a serious depressive episode when her three children were murdered, an expert said her depression...
MEC's HPCSA hearing postponed
The disciplinary inquiry by the Health Professions Council of SA (HPCSA) into Limpopo Health MEC Dr Phophi Ramathuba’s unprofessional conduct, which was set to...
‘Predatory’ US gynae gets 20 years for sexual abuse
A Manhattan gynaecologist, described as a “depraved predator in a white coat”, was sentenced to 20 years behind bars last week after being convicted...
J&J’s second bankruptcy bid fails
Johnson & Johnson’s second attempt to resolve tens of thousands of lawsuits over its talc products in bankruptcy has failed, with New Jersey Judge...
Lawsuit settled over illegal HeLa tissue harvested in 1950s
Laboratory equipment maker Thermo Fisher Scientific has settled a lawsuit brought by the estate of Henrietta Lacks, a long-dead cancer victim whose “immortal” cells...
Limpopo Health MEC must ‘face the music’ for migrant remarks, judge orders
Despite protestations of being “untouchable”, Limpopo Health MEC Dr Phophi Ramathuba will face a misconduct inquiry with the Health Professions Council of SA (HPCSA)...
Dickason's mother testifies in New Zealand murder trial
Taking the stand in the Christchurch, New Zealand High Court this week, Lauren Dickason’s mother said her daughter had loved her three children “very...
UK's NHS forks out billions to settle negligence claims
It seems South Africa is not alone in struggling with rising medical negligence claims. The British NHS spent £2.7bn settling medical negligence claims for poor...
J&J to pay $18.8m to dying man in talc suit
After a six-week trial, a jury has ordered Johnson & Johnson to pay $18.8m to a California man who said he developed cancer from...
Australian brain surgeon found guilty after two patients’ deaths
Controversial Australian neurosurgeon Charlie Teo, whose futile surgeries left two patients in a vegetative state before they died, has been found guilty of unsatisfactory...
Thrice-suspended obs/gyn loses licence after patient's death
A US obstetrician/gynaecologist, who had already been reprimanded by the state medical board three times since 2004, and even lost her licence once before,...
US doctor who reused single-use surgical devices jailed
An ENT doctor in the US has been sentenced to 25 years in prison and ordered to repay $4.7m to Medicare after being found...
Livestreaming plastic surgeon loses licence after TikTok videos
A plastic surgeon in Ohio, USA, who livestreamed her procedures on TikTok, has had her medical licence permanently revoked and made to pay a...
UK watchdog probes gender clinic linked to scandal-hit Tavistock
Barely a month after its opening, a private gender clinic in Britain, run by former staff from the scandal hit NHS Tavistock Centre, is being...
State pays R4bn in medico-legal claims in three years
With medico-legal claims devouring R4bn of Health Department funds in just three years, Health Minister Dr Joe Phaahla has said several recommendations were being...
Midwives’ neglect led to baby’s breastfeeding death: UK inquest
A British hospital has admitted negligence after a coroner ruled that a baby died from neglect because staff failed to follow safe breastfeeding guidelines,...
Two years sliced off Theranos fraudster’s prison term
The 11-year sentence for Theranos founder and convicted fraudster Elizabeth Holmes has been shortened by two years, according to a website update of the...
Murder-accused SA doctor to plead insanity and infanticide
The trial of South African doctor Lauren Dickason, who has pleaded not guilty to the murder of her three children in New Zealand two...
Dismissed nurse fights back in alleged sexual harassment case
A Johannesburg nurse who was dismissed after lodging sexual harassment complaints against a senior manager is headed for the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and...
Gilead, Teva cleared in generic HIV medicines lawsuit
A federal court jury has cleared Gilead Sciences and Teva Pharmaceuticals of allegations that the companies struck an illegal deal that inflated prices for...
Gambian families sue Indian company for cough syrup deaths
Indian pharmaceutical company Maiden Pharmaceuticals is being sued by the families of 20 Gambian children whose deaths were linked to toxic cough syrups made...
Court blow for Discovery Health in RAF feud
The Gauteng High Court (Pretoria) has dismissed Discovery Health’s bid to compel the Road Accident Fund (RAF) to immediately process medical scheme members’ claims...
Low-income context should be key consideration in CP litigation – SA review
Over the past half century, one medical malpractice claim – birth-related cerebral palsy (CP) – has had a major impact on obstetric care, resulting...
Woman to sue hospital after premature baby’s death
A woman whose baby died after she went into premature labour at Sebokeng Hospital is instigating legal action against Gauteng Health, saying nurses had...
Court gives policeman go-ahead to claim for missing finger
A former SAPS officer whose finger was amputated after he was bitten by a suspect while on duty has been given the green light...
Northern Cape sitting with R2.1bn medico-legal claims
Despite boasting the lowest population in South Africa (just 1m people), the Northern Cape is facing medical negligence claims of R2.1bn – made up...
Health official loses court bid to avoid medico-legal inquiry
A Health Department official’s attempt to prevent a disciplinary inquiry into allegations that he helped a law firm in its claims against the department...
Doctors to pay $29m after misdiagnosis and death
Two Boston doctors associated with Salem Hospital, a clinical affiliate of Massachusetts General Hospital in the US, have to fork out nearly $29m to...
Bayer wins patent rights case against Clicks for blood-thinning medicine
More than a year after reserving judgment in an urgent application, Judge Colleen Collis has finally handed down her ruling, confirming pharmaceutical giant Bayer’s patent rights,...
Mental healthcare law challenge dismissed by ConCourt
The Constitutional Court has dismissed a challenge – by a civil rights group – to legislation governing the protection of mental healthcare patients, finding...
Woman in court over R3m nursing college fraud
A Limpopo woman who was on the run for six years and who is accused of defrauding students of more than R3m while running...
UK mother jailed for aborting at 32 weeks
A British mother of three has been given a 28-month sentence – 14 to be served behind bars, the rest on probation – after...
US doctors buy their way out of trouble
American medical practitioners and providers have coughed up $26.8bn over the past decade to settle federal allegations, including fraud, bribery and patient harm, a...
Pardoned mother as rare genetic mutation linked to children’s death
An Australian woman convicted of killing her four infant children says a decision to pardon her after 20 years is “a victory for science”...