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Medico-Legal
RAF non-payments bringing practices to their knees
Medical practitioners, psychologists, occupational therapists and other medical experts who, along with lawyers, provide professional services to Road Accident Fund (RAF) victims say thousands...
Legislation will curb 'unsustainable' medical negligence claims
The government will clamp down on 'unsustainable' medical negligence claims against the state health services with legislative changes, Deputy Health Minister Joe Phaahla has...
Vaal therapy dogs project with child witnesses a 'major success'
A pilot project in the Vaal Triangle to use therapy dogs for child witnesses in court has been hailed as a major success, Beeld...
ANC decides against outsourcing of NHI submissions
MPs have voted to rescind their decision to outsource processing the tens of thousands of written submissions received in response to the National Health...
Draft Cannabis Bill is a missed opportunity — critics
Dagga can put the economy on a new high, but the draft cannabis Bill has missed this opportunity entirely. So says University of Pretoria’s...
Kenyan charities urge withdrawal from Geneva Consensus Declaration
An alliance of Kenyan charities has urged the government to withdraw from the US-led Geneva Consensus that critics say weakens global efforts to safeguard...
HPCSA and UCT investigate doctor over 'curing' of transgender children
An “almost qualified” psychiatrist has been reported to the Health Professions Council (HPCSA) over alleged comments around “curing” transgender children, reports Sunday Times . The...
New Zealand referendum: No to cannabis; Yes to euthanasia
Rejecting a campaign backed by medical experts and the New Zealand Medical Journal, a national referendum has voted against cannabis legalisation, writes MedicalBrief. They...
High Court rules that SAHPRA not to regulate alternative medicines
Pending the result of an appeal, health supplements and complementary medicines – not scheduled medicines as defined by the Medicine’s Act – may soon...
KZN ambulance services' ultimatum to Road Accident Fund
The Road Accident Fund has been given an ultimatum to pay close to R10m owed to private ambulance operators in KwaZulu-Natal – or services...
Bogus pulmonologist arrested in Springs
A woman has been arrested for contravention of parts of the Health Professions Act after she was found to have been operating medical practices...
Johnson & Johnson's appeal on $2.12bn talc verdict dismissed
Missouri's highest court has refused to consider Johnson & Johnson's appeal of a $2.12bn damages award to women who blamed their ovarian cancer on...
Informed consent is critical as elective surgery resumes — healthcare company
With medical malpractice litigation in South Africa having more than doubled over the past two years, the added complication of COVID-19 raises a large...
Axed Health MEC applies to set aside 'garbage’ SIU findings
Axed Gauteng Health MEC Dr Bandile Masuku has filed an application in the Gauteng High Court (Pretoria), asking that the findings of the Special...
R2m claim: Finger amputated after emergency centre treatment
A woman who eventually had her ring finger amputated after being attacked at her home in Centurion in 2016 has brought a R2m lawsuit...
Awaiting-trial prisoner moved to private hospital following urgent application
Avineshsing Rajbansi has been moved to a private healthcare facility after an urgent application was made at the Durban Regional Court. According to a...
EFF's Health Bill underscores 'massive financial implications of NHI'
Because the EFF’s National Health Amendment Bill has such ‘massive financial implications for the department and the Ministry’, the cost of providing health services...
Gauteng hospital CEO gets 'precautionary transfer' in misconduct probe
The Gauteng Health Department has given Ruth Mabyana, CEO of Bheki Mlangeni Hospital in Soweto, a “precautionary transfer” amid a misconduct debacle in which...
Western Cape ponders changes to Liquor Act to curb binge drinking
Western Cape Premier Alan Winde has announced the provincial government is urgently considering the introduction of ‘per-unit-of-alcohol’ pricing to curb binge drinking. A Business...
Maker of OxyContin agrees to plead guilty and faces $8.3bn in penalties
Purdue Pharma, the maker of OxyContin, has agreed to plead guilty to criminal charges related to its marketing of the addictive painkiller, and faces...
Unregistered JHB dentist arrested and charged after 2 years of practice
A “bogus” dentist who had been operating for two years though he is not registered with the Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA),...
Discovery's multi-million court battle with gynaecologist over 'misrepresentation'
A multimillion-rand litigation battle between insurer Discovery Life and a Limpopo gynaecologist, is headed to court on Friday, reports News24. The gynaecologist, Dr Patrick...
Correctional Services defy court over hospital transfer of comatose prisoner
Prison authorities defied a court order and refused to transfer an awaiting trial prisoner, who had been unconscious for nearly three weeks, from a...
E-smoking Bill expected before Cabinet still this year
Long-awaited legislation to bring e-cigarettes and new-generation tobacco products into the regulatory net for the first time, is expected to be presented to the...
Parow man arrested after calling COVID19 'a total lie' wants charges dropped
A Parow man who claimed COVID-19 may be spread by community swab tests intends making representations to the National Prosecuting Authority, writes Jenni Evans...
Man accused of killing SA expat doctor in Canada found fit to stand trial
A man accused of killing a family doctor at a medical clinic in central Alberta has been found fit to stand trial after a...
UN condemns Nigerian rape law carrying castration and death penalties
United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet has condemned a recently signed law in Kaduna state in Nigeria that introduced tough penalties...
HPCSA's 3-year disciplinary action against anti-abortion doctor collapses
After preventing anti-abortion intern Dr Jacques de Vos for more than three years from completing his medical training, the Health Professions Council of SA...
Eastern Cape Health slammed over negligence claims
“Unwarranted”, “unacceptable” and “irresponsible” were just some of the adjectives used by judges of the Eastern Cape High Court (Makhanda) to descirber the way...
Fired Gauteng Health MEC slams SIU for politicking
Fired Gauteng Health MEC Bandile Masuku plans to go to court to challenge the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) report on his role in awarding...
Aggravated manslaughter charges against anaesthetist
A self-confessed alcoholic anaesthetist who had lost two previous jobs because of drinking but had never been reported to the Belgian medical oversight body,...
Parliamentary report on massive input on NHI Bill delayed to 2021
A report on the written comments received by parliament on the National Health Insurance Bill will only be finalised by mid-February, MPs have been...
Eastern Cape Health ignores SIU order to end internal corruption probe
The Eastern Cape Health Department has apparently rebuffed an attempt by the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) to stop it from investigating alleged personal protective...
NZ Medical Association changes position on cannabis legalisation
In the final week before the referendum on whether to legalise cannabis the New Zealand Medical Association (NZMA) has switched its position from one...
Nigeria's paediatric association takes issue with blasphemy conviction
The Paediatric Association of Nigeria (PAN) has asked the Kano State government to review the conviction of a teenager who was sentenced to 10...
Judicial review over £3bn of UK's COVID-19 spending
A legal action has been launched over the UK government’s failure to disclose details of its spending on contracts related to the pandemic, as...
Stakeholders have more time to make submissions on Cannabis Bill
Stakeholders now have until 30 November to make written submissions on the Cannabis for Private Purposes Bill in anticipation of public hearings on a...
eSwatini judge's comments spark abortion debate
A High Court judge in eSwatini has launched a debate about legalising abortion. Justice Qinisile Mabuza presided over a case involving a 26-year-old woman...
HPCSA's 'flagrant disregard' for rights of anti-abortion medic — MP
The Health Professions Council of SA (HPCSA) has violated the human rights of anti-abortion medic Jacques de Vos by delaying his hearing without giving...
Human Rights Commission: Hospital strike was a human rights violation
Actions of staff at Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital during a strike violated human rights by denying a “considerable number” of patients the right...