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Medico-Legal
Bail for Namibian intern doctor accused of rape
A Namibian intern medical doctor Dennis Noa, accused of raping a patient at Katutura Intermediate Hospital, Windhoek, was granted bail last Friday after nearly...
Lifetime cost of care in cerebral palsy medical negligence claims
Cerebral palsy (CP) diagnoses are the major factor in the billions paid in medical negligence claims by South Africa’s provincial health services and calculating...
Anglo American ‘knew of lead danger’ at Zambian mine
A medical officer said Anglo American was aware of the danger lead poisoning posed to employees and commissioned a now missing study into its...
Vaping company fined $40m for illegally targeting youth
Juul Labs, an electronic cigarette giant, will pay $40m to North Carolina state and make changes to its business practices to settle accusations that...
Namibia unhappy over testosterone-level exclusion of female athletes
The Namibian government has called on World Athletics and the International Olympic Committee to reinstate two of its top athletes in the women's 400m...
Too late for justice, say victims allegedly tortured by New Zealand psychiatrist
A New Zealand Royal Commission set up to investigate abuse in care says the country’s health ministry is still receiving complaints about a psychiatrist...
ANC to discipline Nkandla ‘super-spreaders’ for incitement to violence
Organisers of the potentially super-spreader event outside former President Jacob Zuma’s Nkandla home would be investigated for incitement to violence and defiance of COVID-19...
DA call for submissions on Bill to end ‘conversion therapy’ on children
The Democratic Alliance’s Siviwe Gwarube has called for written submissions on the proposed contents of a Children’s Amendment Bill that would seek to “provide...
‘Negligent’ Gauteng Treasury pays Microsoft $20m instead of R20m
An “act of negligence” has led to the Gauteng Department of Treasury squandering R6 843 737.90 of taxpayers' money, which could have bought the...
High Court expresses doubt that ‘nonchalant’ HPCSA is fit for purpose
The continued inability of the Health Professionals Council of SA (HPCSA) to timeously register foreign-qualified medical practitioners has led to another judicial tongue lashing,...
SA’s alcohol industry hits back at its fourth lockdown ban
The alcohol industry is fighting back against the fourth liquor ban, with one body approaching the High Court for an urgent interdict against the...
Government’s purchasing exclusivity to J&J vaccine challenged
AfriForum and Solidarity have launched an urgent court application to request more information concerning the conditions imposed on Johnson & Johnson (J&J) by the...
Eastern Cape medico-legal claim was ‘ludicrous’ plagiarism
A doctor who compiled the medico-legal report in a case of negligence brought against Eastern Cape Health has told Mthatha Regional Court Magistrate Sizakele...
US hospital group fires 150 for refusing vaccination
More than 150 employees of leading US medical group Houston Methodist resigned or were terminated over the past fortnight after refusing to get vaccinated...
COVID-19: Lockdown Level 4 regulations amended
Amendments have been made to COVID-19 adjusted disaster management lockdown level four sub-regulations affecting accommodation establishments, the closure of schools and the transportation of...
ConCourt rejects sexual harassment doctor’s reinstatement bid
The Constitutional Court has refused former George Hospital head of anaesthesiology, Dr Charles James McGregor, leave to appeal his dismissal for sexual harassment and...
Cancer Alliance explores legal options to compel public/private treatment partnership
Cancer activists are exploring legal options to compel the government to deal with treatment backlogs in Gauteng by partnering with the private sector, reports...
R4bn in claims brings Eastern Cape Health close to collapse
The Bhisho legislature has been told that Eastern Cape Health is on the verge of collapse and has been paralysed by medico-legal claims worth...
US Supreme Court rejects bid to overturn Obamacare for 3rd time
The US Supreme Court has turned back its third chance to upend the Affordable Care Act, reports MedicalBrief.
By a 7-2 vote, the court rejected...
New regulations for employers on COVID-19 obligations in workplace
Employees who experience side effects can be booked off on paid sick leave by producing their vaccination certificate as proof, with no need for...
US Hospital workers lawsuit challenging mandatory vaccine ‘without merit’
A United States federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit brought by 117 workers at a Texas hospital over its requirement that they be vaccinated...
Most PPE distributors investigated not licensed — SIU
The Special Investigating Unit (SIU) probe into Personal Protection Equipment (PPE) procurement found most companies awarded contracts were not accredited or certified to handle...
UCT neuropsychologists win a small victory against HPCSA
The persistent problems that medical professionals have in getting the Health Professions Council registration necessary in order to practise was highlighted again in the Western Cape...
NMB doctor gets 576 hours hospital service over RAF fraud
A Nelson Mandela Bay doctor must clock up a total of 576 hours at Livingstone Hospital as part of his sentence for attempting to...
UK takes the D-I-Y route on road accident injury compensation
The launch of the UK’s online personal injury compensation service will, says Lord Chancellor Robert Buckland QC bring an end to 'greedy opportunism’, reports...
Gauteng mother loses custody in unique Covid restriction
A Gauteng magistrate's court granted the estranged father of a toddler temporary custody because the child's mother had tested positive for Covid-19, reports Saturday...
Customary Initiation Act encompassing 'provincial peculiarities' gazetted
The Customary Initiation Act was gazetted on Saturday but is not yet in force, reports Legalbrief. Underpinned by a policy on the customary practice...
SAPS officers going on duty with Covid-19 may face attempted murder charges
SA Police Service (SAPS) officers have been warned that reporting for duty after testing positive for Covid-19 could result in facing attempted murder charges,...
Cosatu backs 'ruthless' enforcement of proposed new drink/drive limits
Cosatu says the proposed amendment banning drinking and driving is progressive, long overdue and should be enforced ruthlessly, reports Cape Argus.
Officials from the Department...
SA Law Reform Commission: Medical community comment invited on disability rights
Stakeholders now have until 30 June to comment on a South African Law Reform Commission (SALRC) issue paper intended to stimulate debate on the...
Moves on medical cannabis legalisation divide Africa
A minor legal change within the UN that would remove some barriers for medical cannabis use has caused deep divisions in Africa, reports Daily...
Storm brews in SA’s medical malpractice insurance market
Local medical malpractice insurers are unhappy that the UK-based Medical Protection Society is allowed to operate in South Africa without being a licensed financial...
Digital Vibes scandal: Pressure on Health Minister increases
Health Minister Dr Zweli Mkhize faces further problems — as well as resignation pressure — with revelations that the communications company that got “highly...
Settlement in Bayer cancer class action rejected
A US judge has declined to grant preliminary approval for a settlement against Bayer over claims that their Roundup weedkiller causes cancer, reports Jurist.
Research...
State and constitutional activists in rare agreement
The Gauteng High Court (Pretoria) judgment declaring lockdown regulations invalid and unconstitutional was a case of judicial overreach, the Supreme Court of Appeal heard,...
Traditional healers sentenced for wild garlic collection
A group of Cape Town ‘bush doctors’, who illegally collected protected plants for medicinal use without permits, were given suspended sentences, reports Mail&Guardian.
They sell...
DoH 'working as fast as possible' on stringent Control of Tobacco Bill
South Africa's national Health Department said this week that it is working to get more stringent anti-smoking laws passed, reports Eyewitness News.
EWN writes that...
SIU: Covid-19 decontamination deal 'manifestly unlawful'
The Special Investigating Unit (SIU) has obtained an order to freeze R40.7m worth of bank accounts and assets after finding that the procurement process...
Medscheme's 14-year battle with software developer goes to arbitration
A 14-year battle between software developer Neil Harvey and Medscheme over alleged copyright infringement will now go to arbitration, reports Financial Mail.
FM reports that...
Namibia debates repeal of apartheid-era sodomy law
Namibia’s Justice Minister Yvonne Dausab says the government cannot police the sex lives of individuals and will not regulate or criminalise homosexuality, reports The...