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Medico-Legal
SANDF wins mutiny case against Cuba medical students
The Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) has ruled that the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) was correct to dismiss 35 medical students who...
Judge dismisses couple’s application to freeze embryos
A couple’s court application for permission to proceed with artificial fertilisation and then freeze the embryos until they had identified a suitable surrogate mother...
Dad wins R240 000 damages for unlawful lockdown arrest
An Eastern Cape trader has won damages of R240 000 after being accused of breaking lockdown rules when he was driving his sick son...
Imposter radiologist's case postponed
A Gqeberha woman who falsified her radiology qualification, working at Livingstone Hospital for six months before it was uncovered, appeared briefly in the Specialised...
UK nurse murdered seven babies, tried to kill others, court hears
The trial of a British nurse accused of murdering seven babies, attempting to murder 10 others at Countess of Chester Hospital – and who...
KZN surgeon’s murder charge triggers new alarm among doctors
As predicted by medical and legal experts, South African prosecutors appear to be increasingly inclined to bring murder charges against doctors whose patients die...
CCMA rules against Muslim pharmacist in hospital dress code challenge
The CCMA has ruled against a Durban hospital pharmacist who applied to have a “bare elbows” policy declared discriminatory because it barred her from...
Court stops removal of patients from Mpumalanga care home
The Mpumalanga High Court (Mbombela) has barred the Social Development Department from moving 36 disabled patients from a care facility after an application by AfriForum,...
Bogus psychologist gets life for killing mother
An Eastern Cape man who ran an industrial psychology practice despite not being qualified has been sentenced to life imprisonment for murdering his 60-year-old...
Free State nurses arrested for running illegal clinic
Three nurses arrested after being found in possession of stolen medicines and equipment, while also operating an illegal clinic in Harrismith, had embarrassed the...
US doctor arrested for allegedly tampering with IV bags, causing death
A Dallas anaesthesiologist, with a history of disciplinary actions against him, has been arrested on charges of injecting nerve-blocking agents and other drugs into...
US osteopath behind bars for illegal Xanax prescriptions
An osteopathic physician from Illinois was sentenced to 12 months in prison last week for illegally prescribing the anti-anxiety drug alprazolam (Xanax) to people...
Wiese rescues SA's anxious high-risk doctors after insurance dilemma
Consumer retail billionaire Christo Wiese has stepped in to rescue EthiQal, a popular local medical indemnity provider, after its parent company, Constantia Insurance, was...
NHI plans still on track despite court ruling, says Minister
Despite a recent High Court ruling declaring some sections of the National Health Act unconstitutional, Health Minister Joe Phaahla says this won’t impede plans...
Health managers point fingers at politicians in Life Esidimeni inquest
Former Health Minister Dr Aaron Motsoaledi wanted to shut down the NGOs where mental health patients were dying, the inquest into the deaths of...
Health Squared under provisional curatorship
Health Squared, the embattled medical scheme that last month sought voluntary liquidation, has been placed under provisional curatorship from 8 September, despite its argument...
Jail for millionaire French dentist who mutilated hundreds of patients
A multimillionaire French dentist was jailed last week for “wiping the smiles off the faces” of hundreds of patients by maiming them with expensive,...
Court orders Eastern Cape Health MEC to reinstate whistle-blower
A whistle-blower who raised the alarm about nepotism will be reinstated at a district human resources office in the Eastern Cape after a High...
Judge rules US PrEP healthcare coverage violates 'religious freedom’
A US judge has ruled that the country’s employer healthcare plans covering the main HIV prevention drugs violates the right to religious freedom, after...
US judge rules against FDA in stem cell treatment dispute
A US judge has declined to block a California stem cell clinic from continuing to perform what the Federal Drug Administration (FDA) has called...
KZN surgeon charged after patient's death, gets bail
A Richards Bay surgeon, charged with murder after the death of a patient, has been granted bail of R10 000.
As reported in MedicalBrief, the...
HPCSA disciplinaries from mid-July until August 2022
Numerous counts of medical aid fraud, an unnecessary procedure carried out on a patient, failure to attend to an ectopic pregnancy and using social...
Health Squared gets leave to apply for voluntary liquidation
After its initial application for voluntary liquidation was opposed by the Council for Medical Schemes (CMS) registrar, who wanted to place the scheme under...
Life Esidimeni: arrest warrant for former mental health boss after non-appearance
Former head of mental health in Gauteng Makgabo Manamela’s absence from the Life Esidimeni inquest this week has tried the court’s patience, and after...
Health Department to pay damages after patient falls from 5th floor of hospital
Eastern Cape health authorities are liable for damages to a widow after her husband fell from the fifth floor window of the Livingstone Hospital...
ANC bigwigs score millions from Tembisa Hospital
ANC Ekurhuleni boss Sello Sekhokho sold groceries, office supplies and medical equipment to Tembisa Hospital worth nearly R15m in three years, providing easily available...
Tribunal dismisses Digital Vibes beneficiaries’ bid to avoid scrutiny
The Special Tribunal has dismissed an application by six companies not to be joined in the Special Investigating Unit’s (SIU’s) court bid to recover...
Judge rejects mom’s R5m claim for loss of child’s toe
Nearly 12 years after a baby had the tip of his toe amputated after a car accident, his mother’s claim for more than R5m...
Bail denied to bogus doctor charged with teen rape, sexual assault
The Kimberley Magistrate’s Court denied bail this week to a bogus doctor who had been arrested and charged with raping a 17-year-old patient, and...
Senegalese medics arrested after death of pregnant woman, baby
Three Senegalese health workers have been arrested after a pregnant woman and her baby died, allegedly because of a botched Caesarean section.
The gynaecologist, anaesthetist...
Juul to fork out millions of dollars after e-cigarette marketing probe
E-cigarette maker Juul Labs Inc has agreed to pay $438.5m to settle claims by 34 US states and territories that it downplayed its products'...
1 000 families to sue UK gender identity service
Britain’s only children’s gender identity development service (GIDS), run by the Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust, is to be sued by “at least...
Life behind bars for vegan mother who starved baby to death
A vegan mother in Florida, US, has been given a life sentence for murder for the malnutrition death of her 18-month-old son, who was...
UK surgeon fired for whistle-blowing wins claim against healthcare watchdog
An orthopaedic surgeon dismissed for whistle-blowing about patient safety concerns has won his claim against Britain’s Care Quality Commission (CQC), where he had a...
Ugandan hospital sued after allegedly detaining teen patient over unpaid bill
Activists have sued a Ugandan hospital for refusing to allow the discharge of a 14-year-old boy, who was seriously injured after being hit by...
Medical bodies condemn surgeon’s arrest and murder charge after patient’s death
The South African Private Practitioners Forum (SAPPF), Surgicom and the Association of Surgeons of South Africa (ASSA) have strongly condemned the arrest of a...
State liable for child’s cerebral palsy after Bara birth 17 years ago
The Gauteng Government and its Departments of Health and Social Development are liable for 100% of the damages a baby suffered during birth 17...
Health Squared spent millions on non-essentials as membership shrank, court papers show
Health Squared medical scheme’s administrator, Agility Health, is holding discussions with the scheme to try to ensure its most vulnerable members do not face...
Judge orders medical aid to pay for boy's expensive medication
An Alberton mother has won a significant court battle against her medical aid scheme, forcing it to pay for an expensive drug that her...
Discovery challenges RAF directive in court
A new directive from the Road Accident Fund (RAF) rejecting claims for past medical expenses if the claimant’s medical aid had already been paid...