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Medico-Legal
'Free to be’ cardiologist lays charges over Twitter slur
Dr Viwe Mtwesi, a young cardiologist who was labelled a "prostitute" on Twitter for the dress she wore, has opened a case a case...
Attorney accused of R30m medical fraud granted bail
An Eastern Cape attorney arrested by the Hawks on charges of R30m fraud for allegedly raking medical negligence claims dating back to 2013 and...
Pretoria GP '100% liable' after failed SMS warning of deadly diagnosis
Dr Jurgen Odendaal, a Pretoria East general practitioner, whose SMS messages to a patient warning of a cerebral malaria diagnosis were sent to a...
HPCSA hearing adjourned against surgeon over 'coolie mentality' claims
A Health Professions Council of SA inquiry into Professor Anunathan Reddi, a Durban surgeon who allegedly said Indians had a "coolie" mentality and also...
Nurse sues after eight months without pay because of 'system glitch'
Melanie Vorster, a staff nurse of the Bongani Hospital in Welkom has issued summons against the Free State Health MEC after not being paid...
R23m claim on private hospital after doctor arrives late
A Vosloorus mother has claimed R23m from a private hospital after her son was born with severe brain damage, says a Pretoria News report....
Former health unionist in court over R50m fraud of US donor funds
Former CEO of the South African Clothing and Textile Workers' Union's Worker Health Programme, Colleen Khumalo, has appeared in the Cape Town Regional Court...
'Right-to-die' murder trial postponed
The murder trial of Sean Davison, who founded the "right to die" organisation DignitySA, was postponed to April after he made a quick appearance...
Provincial health services at risk over R80.4bn in medical negligence claims
A "near exponential" increase in medical negligence claims against the state has left provincial health departments with R80.4bn in contingent liabilities, equivalent to more...
Doctor with disability takes on Life Healthcare over unfair dismissal
Sarah Whitehead has overcome every challenge life has thrown at her, but now, reports The Times, the doctor with a disability is facing her...
Pretoria hospital sued for 'lack of compassion' over death of premature twin
A Pretoria couple are claiming R1.5m in damages from the Louis Pasteur Private Hospital for the trauma they had to endure when they walked...
Family feud drove doctor allegedly to order a 'hit' on brother-in-law
A family feud drove a neurosurgeon at Durban’s Inkosi Albert Luthuli Central Hospital allegedly to order a “hit” on his brother-in-law, who is also...
Concern over light sentence for non-consent circumcision on underage boy
An illegal traditional surgeon, who charged R400 and a bottle of brandy per procedure, has been found guilty of circumcising an underage boy in...
Traditional leaders demands legal action on initiate deaths
The Eastern Cape House of Traditional Leaders is demanding the law to be tightened to deal with those responsible for deaths of initiates in...
Christmas Day staffing failure costs Gauteng Health R17m
A mother who gave birth to a premature baby because unskilled nursing staff and doctors were on duty on Christmas Day seven years ago...
Jehovah's Witness parents may contest interim blood transfusion order
The parents of three children who require blood transfusions should their conditions deteriorate are expected to file opposing papers against an interim order extended...
First listeriosis class action claims may be paid out in 2020
The first claims associated with the listeriosis class action could be paid out in mid to late 2020 at the earliest. City Press reports...
GEMS backs down and agrees to cover patient's Keytruda treatment
A medical doctor's court battle to get the Government Employees Medical Scheme (GEMS) to pay for his cancer treatment has ended after the expensive...
Eastern Cape Health claims 3x Health Dept's entire budget
The Eastern Cape's medical legal claims are three times more than the Health Department’s entire operational budget, the auditor-general has revealed. According to a...
Tiger Brands not opposing listeriosis litigation being certified as class action
Lawyers representing victims of the listeriosis outbreak will approach the South Gauteng High Court to certify the litigation as a class action. Tiger Brands,...
Huntington's disease case could change patient confidentiality rules
Lawyers are bringing a case against a London hospital trust that could trigger major changes to the rules governing patient confidentiality, reports The Guardian....
Implant investigation shows costs of poor regulation and testing
The Prolift vaginal mesh implant was launched despite the company being warned it could shrink and harden inside the body, according to an international...
KZN Health's medical negligence claims spiralling out of control
Medical negligence claims against KZN Health continue to mount, with the department having exceeded its total budget in just six months of this financial...
R5.1m lawsuit after migraine injection goes wrong
An injection in the neck to alleviate excruciating migraines, which caused a woman to suffer from partial tetraplegia has resulted in a R5.1m negligence claim...
GP’s injection left patient with unsightly scar and ‘fear of doctors'
A Pretoria general practitioner was ordered to pay R100,000 damages to a patient who was left with an unsightly painful scar on her buttock...
Criminal charges laid against four public health sector heads
Lobby group AfriForum has opened criminal cases against four public health sector heads of department in a national bid to curb the "misuse of...
Mother compensated for negligence leading to neonate death
A mother whose baby died two days after he was born following negligent medical treatment by Eastern Cape hospital staff will be paid R276,000...
Widespread opposition to Bill on lump-sum negligence payouts
The South African government’s latest proposals for containing the growing financial burden posed by medical negligence claims against the state are ill-conceived, unconstitutional, and...
Most UK doctors fearful of prescribing cannabis despite law change
Despite the law change on 1 November, few patients in the UK will be able to access medicinal cannabis because the legal implications of...
Charges withdrawn against some UKZN 'selling places' accused
Charges against three people accused of corruption for allegedly "selling places" at the University of KwaZulu-Natal Medical School, have been provisionally withdrawn. News24 reports...
Defence ministry to pay R10.1m for botched knee operation
The Ministry of Defence has been ordered to pay R10.1m in damages to an injured one-time promising rugby player who was earmarked to play...
Botswana clarifies limits of prescription in medical negligence
The Botswana Court of Appeal, in the case of GMJ v Attorney General has issued a decision upholding an appeal against the decision of...
Court approves blood transfusion over home therapy
The life of a five-year-old Durban boy has been saved after his paediatrician went to court to approve a life-saving blood transfusion for him...
Abbott Laboratories and AbbVie settle in TriCor kickback case
Abbott Laboratories and AbbVie Inc will pay a total of $25m to resolve allegations that Abbott paid kickbacks to doctors in exchange for prescribing...
Medical scheme curator defies High Court judgment
Despite a High Court judgment ordering her immediate removal, the provisional curator of Samwumed has refused to step down until her application for leave...
Black lung disease class action against SA mining
The Southern African Catholic Bishops’ Conference is supporting a class action suit against cola mining companies over pneumoconiosis, also called black lung disease.
“I have...
Nursing failures fuel claims against private hospitals — Stellenbosch study
The failure of nurses at private hospitals to follow guidelines, as well as poor monitoring of patients, lies behind rocketing liability claims, according to...
Ousted Sawumed curator appeals removal
Duduza Khosana, the ousted provisional curator of Samwumed, a medical aid scheme for local government employees, has lodged an application for leave to appeal...
A win for J&J over asbestos contamination in talc causing cancer
A New Jersey jury has cleared Johnson & Johnson (J&J) of liability in a case involving a woman who alleged that the company’s talc-based...
'Discrimination' appeal puts CMS spotlight on obesity surcharge
A Council for Medical Schemes appeal accusing Spectramed of discrimination has spotlighted the 50% surcharge that that surgeons and anaesthetists can levy when operating...