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Medico-Legal
HPCSA revokes licence of Potch doctor after 3 deaths
The Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA) has found Dr David Sello of Potchefstroom, alleged to have caused three patient deaths, guilty on...
Gauteng wants legislation to reduce medical negligence costs
Gauteng Health MEC Dr Bandile Masuku wants a legislative framework that compels victims of medical negligence from the provincial healthcare system to be treated...
Nurse fired for injecting without written instruction is reinstated
A nurse who was dismissed in September last year for administering an injection to a patient without a written instruction from a doctor has...
Esidimeni families challenge compensation payment structure
Aggrieved relatives of Life Esidimeni survivors are threatening to take the Gauteng government to the Public Protector to force it to release the outstanding...
City of Johannesburg to pay out for medic's trauma
A landmark legal challenge will force the City of Johannesburg to provide adequate counselling and support services to medics and firefighters suffering from trauma.
Veteran...
Still no disciplinary action after staff trash Joburg hospital
There have been no arrests or disciplinary action against staff who downed tools and trashed Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Hospital in a dispute over bonuses...
First legally assisted dying case in Australia
An Australian woman with terminal cancer has become the first person to end their life under new assisted dying laws, reports BBC News. Kerry...
US couples file lawsuits over 'worst ever' IVF mix-up
A California couple has filed a lawsuit over what has been described as one of the worst in-vitro fertilisation (IVF) mix-ups, that led to...
A world of difference between expert witness and hired gun
A medical expert is not an advocate or supporter of either the plaintiff or defendant – medical experts are required to present unbiased objective...
NHCPA's 'racial profiling' action thrown out in 2018, bounces back into CMS's lap
The National Health Care Professionals Association's crusade against 'racial profiling' took a blow when its court application against 19 medical schemes was thrown out of...
Law firms withdraw from defending Gauteng Health on negligence claims
Gauteng Health is in trouble after several service providers, mostly law firms, withdrew from defending lawsuits arising from alleged medical negligence. The department, which...
Punitive costs order against Denosa over 'meritless' urgent application
The Democratic Nursing Organisation of South Africa (Denosa) has been slapped with a cost order after trying to sue the office of the Gauteng...
Foreigner's health issues insufficient to halt deportation from the UK
In an landmark decision, the UK Appeal Court decision has ruled that the deportation of a Nigerian man with sickle cell disease would not...
Legality of using social media influencers to promote e-cigarettes
To evade tough laws on tobacco advertising, firms like Philip Morris have turned to social media influencers to promote their smoke-free products, reports Bhekisisa. A...
J&J lose bid to dismiss opioid crisis lawsuit in Okhlahoma
An ongoing lawsuit against Johnson & Johnson for its part in the opioid crisis will continue after the company's effort to have the case...
Gauteng Health stalls R5m claim over alleged baby swap
When a woman who found that the son she had raised for 16 years was not her biological child, it destroyed her marriage and...
Better data vital to reduce SA's medico-legal risk — SASA CEO
The paucity of patient outcome data in South Africa is a major hindrance to best-practice medicine, helping drive the tide of litigation against healthcare...
Discovery acts on technologist's 'illegal and unethical’ refusal to provide treatment
The death of a Northern KwaZulu-Natal woman after a "blackmailing" medical technologist refused to provide dialysis, citing suspended payments by Discovery Health, has drawn a strong...
Doctors referring patients to private hospitals a 'potential conflict of interest'
Almost 400 consultants working for the UK’s National Health Service (NHS) own shares in private hospitals to which they refer patients, exposing them to...
Lawyer interdicted after R480m in medical negligence claims
The Western Cape High Court has stopped a controversial lawyer from instituting cases against Western Cape Health, pending the outcome of an investigation into...
GEMS appeals ruling placing it under Public Protector jurisdiction
GEMS (Government Employees Medical Scheme), is appealing a North Gauteng High Court ruling that granted the Public Protector jurisdiction over it, reports Business Day.
GEMS...
The final twist in a landmark 'right to die' case that divided France
France's highest appeals court said last week that the life support mechanisms that have kept a severely brain-damaged man alive for 11 years can...
Euthanasia 44 years later: A case of déjà vu
Professor Sean Davison in 2019 and Dr Alby Hartmann in 1975. In the absence of any parliamentary appetite for the reform of SA law...
GPs to be consulted on possible changes to UK law on assisted dying
GPs in the UK are to be consulted on whether there should be a change in their official stance on the law on assisted...
Euthanasia advocate gets 8-years house arrest for 3 murders
Euthanasia advocate Sean Davison has been sentenced to eight-years house arrest for murder in a plea deal in the Western Cape High Court, reports...
Coroner finds relative of NHS founder died from 'neglect'
A relative of Nye Bevan, the founder of the UK’s National Health Service (NHS) has died after serious mistakes by two hospital trusts meant...
Medical waste company in 'stinking' legal fight with KZN Health
A 'stinking' legal battle between two waste companies and the KwaZulu-Natal Health Department is being played out in the Pietermaritzburg High Court. The Times...
Mother sues Gauteng Health over incubator death of twin
A mother, with the help of her parents, is suing Gauteng Health for damages after one of her twins died in an incubator, allegedly...
Mpumalanga Health to pay R15.7 for child blinded at birth
The MEC for Health in Mpumalanga has agreed to pay more than R15.7m in damages to the mother of a 6-year-old boy who is...
HPCSA drags its heels on toddler's death for three years
Lisa Strydom's complaint to the Health Professions Council of SA over the death of her baby following what should have been a standard operation has been mired...
Contemporaneous notes once again to the rescue
In an unusual recent case, a claim in the Pietermaritzburg High Court against a specialist obstetrician and gynaecologist was not in delict but in...
Landmark nationwide settlement proposed for opioid lawsuits
Attorneys for local governments across the US have unveiled a plan that they say would move the nation closer to a settlement of lawsuits...
UK public health experts want laws on tattooing and acupuncture
Shops offering tattoos and piercings pose an infection risk, and laws on who works in them should be tightened, BBC News reports that this...
Gauteng Health relies on withdrawn circular over foreign patients
A Gauteng Health circular that called for the province’s state hospitals to charge foreign patients for services was hastily withdrawn following the national department’s...
Durban gynae denies negligence over baby's severe deformities
An Umhlanga-based gynaecologist has denied he was negligent when caring for a patient who gave birth to a baby who was severely deformed, reports...
Pharma's $225m plea deal over doctor bribery charges
A unit of Insys Therapeutics has pleaded guilty to fraud charges as part of an $225m deal with the US Justice Department resolving claims that...
Panday denied leave to appeal in Daymed doctor's case
Visham Panday has been denied leave to appeal a civil case ruling that he must put up security if he wants to pursue an...
Court says chronically ill asylum seeker eligible for treatment
A chronically ill asylum seeker who was refused treatment at Helen Joseph Hospital has managed to secure a draft order that will allow her...
The international state of criminalisation of HIV — review
A global review has found that HIV-related arrests, investigations, prosecutions and convictions have ever occurred in at least 72 countries, with recent cases occurring...
Mpumalanga Health accepts liability for chef's disabled arm
Mpumalanga Health has accepted 100% liability for the fact that a former Pretoria chef cannot use his left arm and hand properly, nor open...