HomeMedico-Legal
Medico-Legal
Eastern Cape Health: R920m in negligence payouts and R4bn in unpaid bills
The Eastern Cape government is scrambling to find unspent funds to fix the hole in the province's Health budget, which is struggling under R4bn...
Portugal's top court narrowly rejects euthanasia Bill over 'imprecision'
Portugal’s Constitutional Court has blocked a law passed by parliament introducing euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide for terminally ill and gravely injured people, ABC News...
CTN medical supplies company donates masks to avoid overcharging case
A Cape Town medical equipment company that had been accused of overcharging the Western Cape Health Department has donated tens of thousands of surgical...
Gauteng paid R117m to dubious companies for unnecessary fumigations
Six companies, some of which only came into existence recently, pocketed at least R117m in 11 months between March 2020 and January 2021 for...
Widespread UK unease over pandemic's curbs on freedoms
Two-thirds of UK citizens agree that curbs on freedoms put in place during the pandemic should be rolled back afterwards, according to a major...
Nelson Mandela Bay surgeon sued over procedure 6 years ago
A popular Nelson Mandela Bay surgeon is facing a multimillion-rand lawsuit for an operation he performed six years ago on a woman who claims...
EFF's Bill 'undesirable' says Health portfolio committee
A Bill seeking to amend the 2003 National Health Act to provide for state-funded clinics to operate ‘24 hours a day and seven days...
Health Dept suspends contract linked to Mkhize's associates
The Health Department has suspended the services of Digital Vibes, an obscure communications firm linked to two close associates of Health Minister Dr Zweli...
Cape motor-neurone disease patient argues for right to die
In spite of a lot of literature being available online about self-administered suicide, Diethelm Harck, who suffers from motor-neurone disease (MND), is adamant that...
Minister applauds 4-year UKZN medical school corruption probe
Minister of Higher Education, Science & Innovation Dr Blade Nzimande has welcomed the four-year investigation into allegations of “places for sale” at the University...
Eastern Cape Health ordered to pay 6 doctors' salaries
The Mthatha High Court has ordered the Eastern Cape Health Department and the Nelson Mandela Academic Hospital to pay six medical officers their salaries...
Silicosis and TB claimants allowed to appeal rejections
The Tshiamiso Trust said prospective beneficiaries of a fund for those who have contracted silicosis and TB in the country's gold mines would get...
Sisters lose UK court fight over 'goodbye hug' for father in coma
Three sisters in the UK have failed to persuade a judge to rule that their brain-damaged father should be kept alive until they can...
Illicit cigarette market – a multi-billion-rand free-for-all for lawbreakers
South Africa's cigarette market has been "transformed into a multi-billion rand free-for-all for lawbreakers". News24 reports that this is according to British American Tobacco...
Former Eastern Cape Health employee jailed for graft
A former Eastern Cape Health Department employee has pleaded guilty to fraud charges. Baxolile Ngoloyi has been convicted of fraud, corruption and money laundering,...
Fresh criticism of 'dysfunctional' HPCSA after Ramdhin debacle
Yet another collapsed Health Professions Council of SA disciplinary hearing has brought new criticism of an organisation that a ministerial task ream six years...
SAHPRA 'error' means Ivermectin 'has been legal for 30 years'
The civil rights organisation AfriForum claims that a slip-up by the health regulator means that the medicine has been legal all along for human...
Testosterone-level battle to European Court of Human Rights
South African athlete Caster Semenya is taking her legal fight to participate in women’s sports to the European Court of Human Rights, her latest...
New mother to be taken off life support against family's wishes
A woman in her early 30s, who has COVID-19 and is in an induced coma following the birth of a son a month ago,...
Call for SA government to revive e-cigarette legislation
Local public health researchers have called on the government to revive stalled legislation intended to regulate e-cigarettes, saying they are being heavily marketed to...
SANDF applies to SAHPRA to trial illegally imported Cuban drug
The South African military will apply to run a clinical trial for the use of a drug known as Heberon to tackle COVID-19, ending...
SACAA preliminary report into Netcare helicopter crash released
The South African Civil Aviation Authority (Sacaa) has released its preliminary accident report on the helicopter crash that claimed the lives of a medical...
Pietermaritzburg doctor in court over 'holding employees hostage'
A Pietermaritzburg doctor accused of holding employees at her private practice and of ordering armed men to terrorise and torture others over a missing...
Dlamini-Zuma granted leave to appeal ruling on tobacco ban
The Western Cape High Court has granted Co-operative Governance & Traditional Affairs Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma leave to appeal its December ruling that found the...
Afriforum: Govt admits private sector may buy COVID-19 vaccines
AfriForum and Solidarity have announced that the government has admitted under oath in its court documents that there is no legal restriction on the...
First evidence heard in Gauteng High Court 'right to die' case
What he fears most is not being able to die when the time comes. A Pretoria News report says this was the evidence of...
Amended COVID-19 disaster management regulations gazetted
Amended COVID-19 disaster management regulations have been gazetted, confirming announcements from President Cyril Ramaphosa and South Africa’s return to lockdown level one.
A statement from...
'Significant' risk to dispensing SA's unregistered Ivermectin
Four out of five Ivermectin tablets tested in South Africa had at least one unregistered active pharmaceutical ingredient, writes MedicalBrief. This had “significant potential safety...
Health Justice wants to join private vaccine procurement application
The Health Justice Initiative (HJI) has filed papers asking to join a case against the Minister of Health and 16 others seeking to allow...
COID Bill 'catastrophic' for medical sector and injured workers
The National Employers Association of SA, representing thousands of businesses and well over 300 000 employees, has joined medical professional bodies, trade unions and...
Gynae with 'history of misconduct' benefits from HPCSA 'bungle'
Dr Anil Ramdhin, a gynaecologist who performed the operation that allegedly led to actress Zoleka Helesi’s death, has escaped suspension after a procedural debate...
Govt's alcohol ban was not properly considered, argues SAB
South African Breweries (SAB) has argued that the government’s assertion that its decision to ban the sale of alcohol was taken carefully is without...
Post-death negligence award 'exposes Gauteng Health to increased liability'
The Gauteng Health Department’s potential medical liability has increased enormously as a result of a pathbreaking judgment that has awarded R1.1m damages to the...
Gauteng judgment upholds mask wearing but criticises beach ban
Lockdown regulations are here to stay for now, including that it is compulsory for everyone to wear a mask when in a public space....
KZN cops arrest 10,701 for going without masks
KwaZulu-Natal police said that 10,701 have been arrested in various public spaces for not wearing a mask. According to an IoL report, police spokesperson...
Euthanasia: HPCSA says applicants exaggerating their symptoms
The Health Professions Council of SA is opposing the latest bid to legalise euthanasia, claiming the applicants are exaggerating their illnesses. According to Rapport,...
Presidency welcomes withdrawal of DA vaccine case
The Presidency has welcomed the withdrawal of the Democratic Alliance (DA) application in the Western Cape High Court against government on its COVID-19 vaccination...
Danish man jailed for coughing at police during COVID lockdown
The Denmark Supreme Court has sentenced a man to four months' imprisonment for coughing at two police officers while shouting “corona” during a routine...
Dutch appeal court ruling overturns curfew ruling
An appeals court overturned a ruling ordering the government to lift the curfew in the Netherlands because it violated freedom of movement and assembly....
Eastern Cape medical negligence problem is 'a runaway train'
Outstanding legal claims for medical negligence against Eastern Cape healthcare workers now total R37.67bn – more than double the value reported four years ago.
The...