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Medico-Legal
HPCSA hearing of doctor barred from practice over anti-abortion stance
The unprofessional conduct hearing by the Health Professions Council of SA (HPCSA) against an anti-abortion doctor had to be adjourned shortly after starting because...
Bloemfontein hospital worker found guilty of raping 12-year-old patient
A Bloemfontein hospital worker has been convicted of raping a 12-year-old patient who was incapacitated and unable to speak after suffering two strokes, Volksblad...
Doctor who lost his licence after 4 deaths may face further court action
The loved ones of David Sello’s victims plan to take legal action against the Potchefstroom-based doctor after the Health Professions Council of South Africa...
Suspended North West Health boss now arrested for fraud
Suspended North West Health boss Thabo Lekalakala has been arrested on fraud charges, reports News24. Lekalakala appeared in the Mmabatho Regional Court in Mahikeng...
Oklahoma judge rules J&J intentionally played down opioid dangers
A judge in Oklahoma has ruled that Johnson & Johnson had intentionally played down the dangers and oversold the benefits of opioids, and ordered...
Purdue Pharma offers to settle opioid lawsuits for up $12bn
The maker of OxyContin, Purdue Pharma, and its owners, the Sackler family, are offering to settle more than 2,000 lawsuits against the company for...
Western Cape Health reversal over ‘theft’ of broken chairs
In the face of widespread public disbelief and criticism, a Western Cape Health internal review has hastily reversed the findings of a disciplinary panel...
SIU starts clawing back money paid to Esidimeni NGOs
The Special Investigating Unit (SIU) will recover more than R600,000 from two Gauteng Health service providers after a successful probe into the Life Esidimeni...
Doctors' careers destroyed for 'stealing' broken chairs
Western Cape Health, despite an acute and growing short of anaesthetists, has jeopardised the careers of three doctors with pristine academic and work records,...
Standing birth baby death at Mamelodi Hospital to be investigated
A newborn fell to his death at Mamelodi Hospital, east of Pretoria, after nurses allegedly refused to help his mother, who gave birth standing....
SCA displeasure over 'pervasively substandard' care in state hospitals
Despite a split decision dismissing an appeal regarding damages for a baby who suffered brain damage during birth, in an unusual move, five judges of the...
Tribunal blocked Mediclinic merger over higher rates
The Competition Tribunal revealed that part of its reasons for deciding to block Mediclinic’s takeover of Matlosana Medical Health Services (MMHS) because of up...
Listeriosis class action: Health inspector was refused access
During the listeriosis outbreak, a municipal health inspector was denied access to the Polokwane facility of Tiger Brands’ subsidiary, Consumer Brands – because he...
Health boss' bid for reinstatement dismissed
A former deputy director general at Mpumalanga Health, who claimed he was unfairly dismissed for authorising irregular expenditure, has lost his Labour Court bid...
Mother asks court for permission to lodge prescribed claim
A Midrand mother says only realised when her baby girl was six months old that the child suffered from cerebral palsy, allegedly due to...
Mediator denies Bayer is to pay out $8bn for Roundup claims
Bayer AG has not proposed paying $8bn to settle all US claims related to the Roundup herbicide, mediator Ken Feinberg is quoted in Reuters...
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...