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Medico-Legal
7 African countries sign agreement criminalising fake medicine
African leaders have pledged to introduce tough criminal legislation to combat the proliferation of substandard and fake medical products – a deadly business that...
Italian appeal court rules prolonged phone use can cause head tumours
An Italian court has ruled that prolonged use of mobile phones can cause head tumours, despite scientists overwhelmingly agreeing there is no evidence to...
Doctor not culpable in baby's head decapitation case
A post-mortem examination has revealed that the doctor implicated for decapitating a baby during delivery at the Windhoek Central Hospital did not act in...
HIV self-testing guidance gazetted to address miners' aversion
According to government statistics, less than less than two-thirds of nearly 330,000 mining employees “counselled for HIV” agreed to be tested, leading to an...
Landmark UK banning of e-cigarettes on Instagram
British American Tobacco (BAT) and three other e-cigarette firms have been banned by the UK advertising watchdog from promoting their vaping products on public...
UK won't join France and Australia in banning breast implants linked to cancer
At least 61 women in the UK have been diagnosed with a potentially fatal cancer linked to breast implants, but the type they received...
Petition to drop 'premature' criminal charges against Beale and Munshi
Almost 50,000 people have signed a petition for authorities to drop the criminal case against paediatric surgeon Professor Peter Beale and anaesthetist Dr Abdulhay...
Gauteng Health settles with family of woman tied to bench
Gauteng Health has reached an undisclosed settlement with Martha Marais' family after she was tied to a bench in the waiting area of Mamelodi...
Doctor who hid his link to law firm banned from practice
A doctor who diagnosed hundreds of personal injury cases for a UK law firm where his wife was a partner has been banned from...
UK report: Dozens of babies died in maternity scandal
Dozens of babies and three mothers died at hospitals in England over four decades because of major staff failings, in what experts said could...
US arrests Chinese researcher over stolen cancer samples
The arrest of a Chinese researcher smuggling stolen cancer samples signifies an escalation in FBI efforts to root out the theft of research from American laboratories.
Zaosong Zheng was preparing to...
Generic drug manufacturers win HIV-drug appeal against Gilead
The Court of Appeal in London has ruled in favour of several generic drug manufacturers, dismissing an appeal brought by pharmaceutical giant Gilead in...
Patients die during dispute between doctors and lawyers in Pakistan
Three patients died when hundreds of lawyers attacked a hospital in Lahore during a furious dispute with doctors, says a BBC News report. Video...
UK court rules that ethical veganism is a 'philosophical belief'
Ethical veganism is a "philosophical belief" and so is protected in law, BBC News reports a tribunal has ruled for the first time. The...
Gene-editing researchers jailed over illegal medical practices
Three Chinese medical researchers have been given jail sentences and fines for using CRISPR gene-editing tools to alter human embryos later implanted and resulting...
Arrest warrants for specialists a 'direct threat' to healthcare delivery
Unprecedented arrest warrants for two medical specialists accused of medical negligence continues to cause waves, writes MedicalBrief. The SA Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists...
HPCSA to appeal dropping of two charges against anti-abortion doctor
The disciplinary hearing into anti-abortion doctor Jacques de Vos by the Health Professions Council of SA has been adjourned to 2 April 2020, to...
New hospital CEO comes with charges for 'gross dishonesty'
The newly appointed CEO of the Far East Rand Hospital, Dr Zachariah Mathaba, was employed despite facing charges of gross dishonesty for allegedly being...
TAC applies to join landmark medical negligence case before ConCourt
The activist Treatment Action Campaign has applied to be heard as a friend of the court in a landmark Constitutional Court case on medical...
North West health boss gets bail in Gupta-linked fraud case
North West Health boss Dr Thabo Lekalakala has been granted R5,000 bail by the Molopo Magistrate’s Court in Mmabatho after being arrested for fraud,...
Unregistered doctor 'allowed to practise' at PMB hospital
A Cuban national, operating under an alias, allegedly practised at a Pietermartizburg hospital under the credentials of a registered practitioner, reports Sunday Tribune.
The...
Damages because twisted foot puts woman in 'daily danger'
A 20-year-old woman, whose right foot was severely damaged at birth in a state hospital, has won R2m in compensation in the Gauteng High...
UK hospital admits liability after woman operated on while conscious
A hospital in the UK has admitted liability after a woman reported being operated on while conscious, leaving her with post-traumatic stress disorder, lawyers...
Damages after trainee surgeon inserts metal plate incorrectly
A Soshanguve man is due to receive damages from Gauteng Health after a trainee surgeon incorrectly inserted a metal plate into his...
British GP faces jail for molesting 23 female patients
A UK GP is facing jail after molesting 23 female patients whom he persuaded to have unnecessary examinations, reports The Guardian. Dr Manish Shah...
New York doctor convicted of bribes and kickbacks in opioid case
A New York doctor has been convicted of accepting thousands of dollars in bribes and kickbacks from Insys Therapeutics in exchange for prescribing his...
Ban on Bio-Strath ads claiming it can improve exam marks
TV and radio adverts suggesting a nutritional supplement can improve a child’s exam marks by 30% have been banned, says a Daily Dispatch report....
Beef advert pulled over health claim complaint
Karan Beef, Africa's biggest cattle company, has promised to withdraw an advert which says a healthy lifestyle should involve a daily helping of beef....
Mothers successfully sue Eastern Cape Health
Two Eastern Cape mothers have both won their cases against the Eastern Cape Health Department for negligence during the deliveries of their babies. The...
Doctors who failed to report poor maternity care may be struck off — GMC
Doctors in the UK who saw but did not report babies and mothers receiving poor care during the National Health Service's worst maternity scandal...
Negligence complainant entitled to full compensation rules UK Supreme Court
The UK Supreme Court has ruled that a professional negligence claim should not lose its worth because the case was retrospectively downgraded in value....
Transplant surgeon failed to disclose organ contamination
A transplant patient died after a surgeon failed to disclose he had spilt stomach contents on organs which went on to be used in...
Aussie women in landmark class action victory
Hundreds of Australian women left in excruciating pain by faulty transvaginal mesh devices have won a landmark case against multinational giant Johnson & Johnson....
Eastern Cape litigation unit to target R29bn in claims
The Eastern Cape provincial government has set aside R3.2m to establish a litigation unit within Premier Oscar Mabuyane’s office in a move it hopes...
Psychologist struck off over testing is reinstated
An psychologist, who was struck off the roll for allowing unqualified people to administer psychometric tests to thousands of children, has been reinstated following...
High Court challenge over parents' right to bury foetus
Parents who lose their unborn child before 26 weeks of gestation should have the choice to bury the remains and government has no right...
Traditional leaders want specialised courts for circumcision deaths
In 2016, the Customary Male Initiation Practice Act was enacted to reduce initiation deaths, with little effect. Now traditional leaders want the act to...
SIU issues summonses to Life Esidimeni NGOs
The Special Investigating Unit's (SIU) Special Tribunal has issued summonses to 13 non-profit organisations implicated in unjustified enrichment emanating from the Life Esidimeni scandal.
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'Fraudulent' medico-legal claims hobble Eastern Cape Health
Eastern Cape Health is facing more than R20bn in medico-legal claims. City Press reports that this was according to Sizwe Kupelo, provincial health spokesperson,...
NHS sued over not revealing Huntington's disease diagnosis
A woman is suing a London NHS trust for not revealing her father had been diagnosed with Huntington's disease before she had her own...