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Medico-Legal
Exceptions to cannabidiol regulations gazetted
On 23 May, 2019, the health minister published a notice in the Government Gazette that excluded certain preparations containing cannabidiol (CBD) from the operation...
Urgent application over Dlamini-Zuma's forced quarantine regulations
AfriForum has submitted an urgent application to the Gauteng High Count (Pretoria) to have Minister of Co-operative Government & Traditional Affairs Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma’s regulations...
CPS review: Prosecutions made under UK Coronavirus Act declared unlawful
All prosecutions made under the UK’s new Coronavirus Act that were reviewed by the Crown Prosecution Service were found to be unlawful, including that...
Zimbabwean man charged for revealing woman's health status on WhatsApp
A Zimbabwean man has been charged for disclosing another person's COVID-19 positive status on social media. IoL reports that Jimmy Mhlanga is accused of...
Durban law group calls for an immediate end to 'fascist' lockdown
The Constitutional Lawyers for Democracy (CLD) have sent a letter of demand to President Cyril Ramaphosa calling for him to urgently lift the lockdown...
More pharmacies settle excessive pricing cases
Two Cape Town companies are among four firms across the country that have settled complaints of excessive pricing with the Competition Commission at the...
Outrage over Dis-Chem pricing on face masks 'not a legal test', argue its lawyers
“Outrage is not a legal test,” argued lawyers defending Dis-Chem and another firm from charges of excessive pricing, reports Business Day. The Competition Commission...
Call on UK equality watchdog to investigate BAME deaths
The mayor of London has called on the UK equality watchdog to urgently investigate whether the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on people of black,...
Foreign-trained doctors' court action over HPCSA board exam
Doctors who studied overseas and who are allegedly being prevented from writing an exam that would allow them to practise, have turned to the...
Competition tribunal fines pharmacy group for price gouging on face masks
A pharmacy group accused of charging excessive prices for face masks and hand sanitisers at its Nelspruit and Pretoria branches has agreed to pay...
Medical schemes regulations amended in the light of COVID-19
Regulations under the 1998 Medical Schemes Act have been amended to provide for COVID-19 screening, clinically appropriate diagnostic tests, medication, medical management (including hospitalisation...
Draft nursing regulations released for comment
Draft regulations on the scope of nursing and midwifery practice have been gazetted for comment within one month. Possibly developed in anticipation of standardising...
Act amendment allows extension of expiring prescriptions from 6 to 12 months
People with expiring prescriptions, in the midst of the COVID-19 crisis, are set for some relief, says a Health24 report. In what appears to...
Internationally trained doctors threaten legal action against 'obstructive' HPCSA
Unemployed medical graduates who have obtained qualifications abroad have accused the Health Professions Council of SA (HPCSA) and the National Health Department of deliberately...
Court bid to release group in state quarantine
AfriForum has filed an urgent application in the Gauteng High Court (Pretoria) to secure the release of 107 people quarantined in a state facility....
UK advertising authority targets products with false medicinal claims
The UK’s Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) is taking action against advertisers claiming that products which are not licensed medicines could have medicinal properties, with...
KZN’s forced quarantine threat retracted but legal action to proceed
Following the threat of legal action by AfriForum, the KwaZulu-Natal government has withdrawn the threat by Premier Sihle Zikalala that people who test positive...
Criminal offence to carry out traditional circumcision this winter
Any traditional circumcision and initiation this winter season will be regarded as a criminal offence that carries a fine, a prison sentence, or both....
UK to ban under-18s from surgery to change gender
UK children who wish to undergo surgery to change their gender will be banned from doing so in future, in terms of planned new...
Med scheme regulator relaxes rules to aid membership retention
The medical schemes regulator will temporarily relax rules to allow the industry to implement measures aimed at retaining members in the face of COVID-19,...
Liberty wins Vitality tug-of-war with Discovery
The High Court has dismissed a case from insurer Discovery against rival Liberty, who it had argued was infringing on its trademarks and competing...
Competition Tribunal appeals Mediclinic's North West hospital acquisition
The Competition Tribunal has asked the Constitutional Court for leave to appeal a ruling allowing Mediclinic to acquire hospitals in the North West, Business...
EU facilitates life science companies' co-operation but regulatory threats remain
Competition law is not a barrier to life sciences businesses working together to ensure the supply of vital equipment and medicines during the coronavirus...
Doctor struck off over personal injury 'false reports factory'
A UK doctor who knocked out a medical report for personal injury claimants every 15 minutes has been struck off by the Court of...
Netherlands court rules on euthanasia for dementia patients
Doctors in the Netherlands can no longer be prosecuted for carrying out euthanasia on dementia patients who have previously given written consent. Previously, patients...
Immunity from claims urged for UK's 'crisis doctors'
The UK’s Medical Defence Union wants doctors to be given immunity from negligence claims arising from treatment delivered during the coronavirus crisis, says a...
Why has Zondo been so slow to meet Zuma's doctors?
Business Day legal writer Karyn Maughan outlines why Deputy Chief Justice Raymond Zondo may be "thinking twice" about the invitation to a confidential meeting...
PPE costs order against Nehawu a lesson against 'spurious' claims
Carmel Rickard in her A Matter of Justice column on the Legalbrief site writes: The case brought by the National Education Health and Allied...
Judge allows UK mental health patient's discharge to free up beds
A UK High Court judge has ruled a woman can be discharged from the hospital bed she has occupied for more than a year...
Further amendment to SA healthcare sector competition exemptions
Trade, Industry & Competition Minister Ebrahim Patel has amended his 19 March COVID-19 directive exempting certain categories of healthcare sector agreements and practices from...
Zimbabwe judge rejects bid to stop COVID-19 hospital for the 'political elite'
The High Court in Zimbabwe has rejected an attempt to stop the refurbishment of an incomplete and deserted hospital and make it available for...
UK Supreme Court dismisses NHS appeal over damages payment of US surrogacy
A woman left infertile by the negligence of a hospital is entitled to recover damages to pay for surrogacy in the US, the UK...
Judge dismisses Nehawu's PPE case against Health Minister
The Labour Court on Wednesday refused to allow the National Education, Health and Allied Workers Union (Nehawu) to withdraw its urgent case over protective...
Forced quarantine of 2 Limpopo doctors causes dismay
The forcible quarantining in a Limpopo hospital of two women doctors who had been self-isolating has caused dismay, writes MedicalBrief. Health MEC Dr Phophi...
Man accused of spreading fake coronavirus news appears in court
A 55-year-old man appeared in Cape Town Magistrate's Court on Tuesday, April 7, for allegedly spreading fake news about COVID-19. The Times reports that...
Retired ConCourt judge to oversee state tracking of COVID-19 patients
Justice Minister Ronald Lamola has appointed retired Constitutional Court Judge Kate O'Regan as the designate judge to oversee the tracing of those who have...
Doctor may approach Labour Court after being 'forced' to put patients at COVID-19 risk
The first labour-related case on COVID-19 may come before the Labour Court as early as next week. According to a statement on the Politicsweb...
Govt will 'name and shame' if COVID-19 patients refuse to give personal information
Health Minister Zweli Mkhize has warned that the government will take decisive steps to deal with people infected with COVID-19 who refuse to provide...
Press Council appeals committee's 'landmark' ruling on science reporting
The Press Council's appeal committee has ruled in favour of GroundUp, overturning a decision by the ombudsman that the news site has to apologise...
Free State Health called out by High Court for pursuing unwinnable case
Free State Health was more than willing to admit that a woman with appendicitis was left with a chunk of infected appendix inside her...