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Medico-Legal
Agoraphobic mother may be forcibly hospitalised to give birth
An agoraphobic pregnant woman can be forcibly removed from her home in order to give birth in hospital, a UK judge has ruled, reports...
Lawyers urge 'buffer zone' outside UK abortion clinics
British lawyers have threatened to launch a first-of-its-kind legal action to introduce a ‘buffer zone’ outside abortion clinics to stop protesters ‘heartlessly’ targeting women...
Doctors, nurses and paramedics are 'soft targets' for criminals
Not only are doctors, nurses and paramedics on the COVID-19 frontline, but they are increasingly being seen as soft targets by opportunistic criminals, writes...
HPCSA disciplinary findings — March 2021
A doctor guilty of failing to take a patient's pre-operative history, as well as neglecting to monitor blood pressure and respond to cardiac arrest,...
US judge orders administration of Ivermectin to comatose patient
At request of her family an Illinois judge has ordered that a comatose woman suffering from COVID-19 to be administered Ivermectin, against the advice...
India Supreme Court orders review of 'discriminatory' vaccination plan
The Supreme Court of India has issued an order asking the central government to review India’s current vaccination plan in the midst of the...
Uganda criminalises human sacrifices with death sentence
Uganda’s parliament has passed a Bill criminalising human sacrifice and prescribing life sentences on conviction for related offences, reports BBC News.
Until now, the country’s...
Uganda surreptitiously reintroduces homosexuality ban in new Bill
Uganda's Parliament has ‘quietly’ passed the Sexual Offences Bill 2019 which reintroduced a ban on homosexuality in the country, reports Uganda Radio Network.
Lawmakers also...
SIU finds legal practitioner corruption in negligence claims; Mkhize wants 'no-fault' fund
An updated Special Investigating Unit report confirms the role of some corrupt attorneys and advocates in Eastern Cape Health's R37bn medical-negligence headache, writes MedicalBrief....
Labour Court orders dismissal of 'reckless' worker who defied COVID-19 regulations
An assistant butcher at Eskort Limited, who defied COVID-19 regulations and went to work even though he had tested positive, has been dismissed by...
Eastern Cape abandons scooter ambulance project
After months of controversy, allegations and serious findings by the Special Investigating Unit against the former MEC for Health and the former superintendent-general, Eastern...
Indian hospitals approach court to resolve oxygen shortages
A two-judge bench of the Delhi High Court has become the last hope for many hospitals struggling to get oxygen for COVID-19 patients as...
84 Namibian doctors accused of defrauding state medical scheme
The Namibian Ministry of Finance has identified a list of 84 doctors who are accused of stealing millions of dollars through the government's medical...
SAPS makes 'great strides' in ending DNA testing backlog
Police management has confirmed that they have made ‘great strides’ to overcome the backlog in DNA testing, while the system to track and trace...
12 SANDF doctors acquitted for 'disobeying' WhatsApp orders
Twelve military doctors who ‘disobeyed’ a WhatsApp message to be deployed on a COVID-19 mission to the Eastern Cape have been acquitted by the...
SA gazettes vaccine compensation regulations despite outcry
South Africans who claim from the COVID-19 vaccine injury fund will give up rights to approach the courts to sue the government or health...
Suspended hospital CEO challenges Mkhize in court application
Tembisa Hospital CEO Dr Lekopane Mogaladi has hauled Health Minister Dr Zweli Mkhize to court in a bid to force him to appoint an...
3 patients ‘mutilated’ by surgeon in a week prompts NHS shake-up
The Royal College of Surgeons was called in to investigate a string of devastating injuries from routine surgery by the same surgeon about which...
Mkhize's former spokesperson in more bad Digital Vibes
Tahera Mather, a long-time associate and former personal spokesperson of Health Minister Dr Zweli Mkhize, was at the centre of a dubious communications contract...
Durban Nurse lied about HIV infection to claim insurance payout
A Durban nurse who attempted to score on her R1m dread disease insurance cover by falsely claiming she acquired HIV while on duty, has...
Arrest and assault charge for Spanish man who knowingly spread COVID
A man has been arrested in Spain on suspicion of assault after allegedly infecting 22 people with COVID, reports BBC News.
The 40-year-old is alleged...
EC to sue AstraZenaca for under-delivery of vaccines
The European Commission is getting ready to launch legal proceedings against vaccine producer AstraZeneca. Politico reports that according to six EU diplomats, the EC...
AG warns urgent intervention needed to prevent provincial health collapse
South Africa's Auditor-General has warned that without urgent intervention, a number of provincial health services face collapse, writes MedicalBrief. Outstanding medico-legal claims amount to...
Cape Town surgeon 'pays' for tax submission failures with ops
A Cape Town orthopaedic surgeon who for nine years failed to submit his company income tax returns had charges withdrawn after he completed a...
Charlotte Maxeke workers disciplined for human rights violations
The Gauteng Health Department has handed two-month suspensions and final written warnings to 40 employees of the Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital for actions...
No-fault compensation fund rules released for 'rushed' comment
The regulations on the government's proposed Covid-19 vaccine injury no-fault compensation scheme were posted on the Department of Co-operative Governance & Traditional Affairs website...
ANC's chief whip to answer for son's 'regrettable' PPE deal
ANC chief whip Pemmy Majodina has said she is willing to subject herself to Parliament’s Ethics Committee to explain her son’s involvement in a...
COVID-status certificates may be discriminatory — UK rights watchdog
COVID-status certificates being considered by the UK to help open up society could amount to unlawful indirect discrimination, the UK government’s independent equalities watchdog...
Pretoria sperm donor's quest to access son — SA first
Judgment was reserved in an application launched by a sperm donor to have access to his biological son after the child’s biological mother and...
Gauteng Health MEC appeals party's 'disrepute' finding
Former Gauteng Health MEC Dr Bandile Masuku said he is appealing against a finding by an ANC disciplinary committee that he had brought the...
Testimony of UCT-trained doctor in Chauvin trial challenged
On day 14 of ex-police officer Derek Chauvin’s murder trial in the US, the prosecution rested its case, with the former policeman invoking his...
US trial of opioid drug makers' starts over 500,000 overdose deaths
Four drugmakers, including Johnson & Johnson and Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd have gone to trial over claims they helped fuel an opioid crisis that...
Hate speech tweet by Durban 'doctor'
A racist tweet by a Durban person could see them in hot water after a Durban civic association sought to lay criminal charges for...
Life Esidimeni inquest date announced
The formal inquest hearing into Life Esidimeni is due to start on July 19 in the Gauteng High Court (Pretoria).
The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA)...
Dates of COIDA Amendment Bill public hearings
The Portfolio Committee on Employment and Labour is set to hear verbal submissions related to the COIDA Amendment Bill. The committee will hear from...
ConCourt confirms alternative compensation remedy for negligence
The Constitutional Court has ruled that South African courts will now be able to consider ordering alternative compensation – instead of a lump-sum payment...
Pretoria sperm donor father seeks resumption of parental rights
A sperm donor, supported by his mother, is heading to the Gauteng High Court (Pretoria) in the first part of their legal bid to...
Fired Gauteng Health MEC fails to overturn SIU report on COVID deals
Former Gauteng Health MEC Dr Bandile Masuku has lost his bid to overturn a Special Investigating Unit (SIU) report that led to his sacking...
European Court of Human Rights: Mandatory child vaccinations legal
The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has issued judgment that mandatory vaccinations of children under the Czech Republic’s health policy do not violate...
Medical opinion: Lack of oxygen not fentanyl cause of Floyd's death
George Floyd died from a lack of oxygen during his arrest, a doctor at the trial of ex-police officer Derek Chauvin in Minneapolis has...