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Medico-Legal
Orthopaedic pioneer kept thousands of bones without patient consent
A renowned UK orthopaedic surgeon, Prof Derek McMinn, over 25 years collected and stored bones from thousands of patients, in breach of legal and...
SA woman sues over unauthorised hysterectomy while a minor
A doctor she consulted when she was trying to conceive confirmed that Bongekile Msibi’s uterus had been surgically removed after she gave birth by...
Kenya to prosecute top officials over $7.8m in missing COVID-19 funds
In a situation that mirrors that playing out in South Africa, Kenyan investigators are to recommend the prosecution of at least 15 top government...
Health MEC threatens legal action over DA's field hospital claims
Embattled Gauteng Health MEC Bandile Masuku has threatened action against Gauteng DA MPL Jack Bloom over statement regarding Nasrec field hospital.
According to News24, Masuku...
Murder of charged anaesthetist brings pressure for legislative change
The killing of a Johannesburg anaesthetist who along with a colleague had been arrested and charged for culpable homicide following the death of a...
SAMA faces winding-up application over R370m dispute with its union
The SA Medical Association may be liquidated following an ongoing dispute with its trade union the SA Medical Association Trade Union, if a court...
Keyhealth placed under provisional curatorship over 'irregularities'
The Gauteng High Court (Pretoria) has placed medical scheme Keyhealth under provisional curatorship, Die Burger reports. The Council for Medical Schemes (CMS) brought the...
Mkhize: Forcibly sterilised women to receive redress
Action would be taken to ensure women who were forcibly sterilised received redress, Health Minister Zweli Mkhize said this week. According to a Cape...
Child abuse and FGM fears over Customary Initiation Bill
Concerns about child abuse and female genital mutilation have been flagged by the Western Cape as some of the hurdles that the Customary Initiation...
Religious leaders move to block Malawi's Abortion Bill
Malawian religious leaders have resolved to block the debating and enactment of the Abortion Bill which is scheduled for tabling in the National Assembly....
Soldier charged with attempted murder of man for not wearing face mask
A SA National Defence Force (SANDF) soldier, who allegedly shot a Limpopo man not wearing a mask, has been granted R5,000 bail in the...
High Court: Epilepsy a disability not a chronic disease
Epilepsy is a disability and not a chronic disease, the Western Cape High Court ruled in ordering Stellenbosch University to reconsider its exclusion of...
Cremation muddle leads to R25m claim against KZN Health
The Maharaj family from Thornville near Pietermaritzburg and the Mateke family from Lesotho are demanding a collective R25m from KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) Health MEC Nomagugu...
Novartis and Roche fined $528m over eye disease treatment
Novartis and Roche have been fined a collective $528m by France’s anti-trust regulator for allegedly conspiring to promote the expensive macular degeneration treatment over...
Gauteng Health MEC lets former CFO off the hook
Gauteng acting Health MEC Jacob Mamabolo has cleared the Gauteng Health Department’s former chief financial officer Kabelo Lehloenya of allegations that she improperly appointed...
Suspension of Australian optometrist who tampered with prescriptions
An Australian optometrist has been disqualified for tampering with eye prescriptions in an apparent attempt to undermine a colleague. According to a BBC News...
Semenya loses appeal against testosterone reduction
SA Olympic gold medallist Caster Semenya's appeal against having to take medication to reduce naturally high levels of testosterone has failed in the Federal...
Doctor is part of group charged with R25m Sassa fraud
A 51-year-old doctor has appeared in the Durban Specialised Commercial Crimes Court for being part of a group that allegedly defrauded the SA Social...
MPs debate problem of tens of thousands of NHI Bill submissions
MPs are still at odds over how to process the tens of thousands of submissions received in response to the National Health Insurance (NHI)...
Durban girl blinded with retinopathy of prematurity gets R11.6m award
A woman whose daughter became permanently blind due to medical negligence at Durban’s Addington Hospital has been awarded R11.6m in damages. The Witness reports...
Financial analysts win $2.5m award for exposing medical firm fraud
The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) awarded $2.5m last week to two external analysts who exposed Orthofix Medical for financial wrongdoing. A Jurist...
Cannabis Bill parliamentary hearings: Call for submissions
In anticipation of parliamentary hearings on the Cannabis for Private Purposes Bill, the National Assembly’s justice & correctional services committee has called for written...
Cape pharmaceutical firm fined for over-charging for face masks
In further clamping down on excessive personal protective equipment supply-prices, the Competition Tribunal has confirmed an order that a Paarl-based pharmaceutical products supplier pay...
KZN High Court rejects 'payment in kind' for medical negligence
The High Court (Durban) has rejected a KZN Health bid to substitute future state healthcare services to a victim of hospital negligence, instead of...
Competition Commission probes price of remdesivir in SA
The SA Competition Commission is investigating the price of US pharmaceutical manufacturer Gilead Sciences’ coronavirus treatment remdesivir, and prices charged by generic firms to which...
First actions against Austrian resort at centre of EU pandemic
Local authorities in Austria are set to face the first legal challenges from people who claim they caught the coronavirus at a popular ski...
Health laboratory services extension gazetted
Department of Health forensic chemistry laboratory services now form part of broader national health laboratory services governed in terms of the 2000 National Health...
Newborn baby to be exhumed for DNA testing over 'mistaken identity'
The Gauteng High Court (Pretoria) has intervened in a case of possible mistaken identity when a newborn boy was buried after the hospital had...
Dlamini-Zuma promises public participation ahead of any tobacco ban
Co-operative Governance & Traditional Affairs Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma will follow a “public participation process” should there be a renewed ban on the sale of...
Reputational harm causes Dis-Chem to abandon appeal
Dis-Chem has withdrawn its appeal at the Competition Appeal Court after being found guilty of excessive mask pricing. Business Day reports the Competition Commission...
No guarantee that tobacco ban won't be reinstated — State Attorney
The government cannot give an undertaking that the tobacco ban will not be reinstated in the future. In a letter written to the Fair...
Tiger Brands facing another listeriosis legal challenge
Tiger Brands is facing another legal challenge in the listeriosis class action lawsuit as its opponents haul the consumer goods company to court to...
Victory for pregnant Ugandan women after ConCourt rethink
Uganda’s Constitutional Court has delivered a major victory for the health of pregnant women in that country, writes Carmel Rickard in her Matter of...
Depression not an excuse for employee misconduct – Labour Appeal Court
The Labour Appeal Court has overruled a judgment that found Legal Aid SA had unfairly discriminated against an employee with depression, writes MedicalBrief. The Labour...
New death certificate requirement of test for coronavirus
A Sunday Times report says the funeral industry is in turmoil over a Health Department instruction that anyone who dies of natural causes outside...
'Unhinged' Cannabis Bill likely to be challenged in courts
A Mail & Guardian report quotes a legal expert on cannabis matters saying that the"completely arbitrary" possession limits in the new Cannabis for Private Purposes...
R65m in unpaid Life Esidimeni compensation
The legal firm that acts on behalf of 101 families of the victims of the Life Esidimeni tragedy have sent a letter of demand...
WTO's plain packaging finding a 'green light' for SA's tobacco Bill
The World Trade Organisation’s (WTO) Appellate body recently confirmed that Australia’s tobacco plain-packaging measures are in compliance with trade rules and obligations; laying to...
Fita goes ahead with tobacco appeal despite unbanning
The tobacco wars rumble as ban is lifted, say reports.
British American Tobacco SA (Batsa) has urged government to ratify the World Health Organisation's Illicit...
Indefinite postponement sought in wine case
Now that the government has lifted the ban on alcohol sales, the Southern African Agri Initiative's (Saai) intends to ask the Gauteng High Court...