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Medico-Legal
Hope Shepherd’s abusive caregiver given eight-year jail sentence
A former caregiver at an East London old age home‚ Ncediswa Mkenkcele‚ is going to prison for eight years for the 2015 assaults on the late...
French anaesthetist poisoning suspect appears in court
An anaesthetist suspected of poisoning seven patients – two of whom died – has appeared in court in France, reports BBC News. The 45-year-old...
UK judge to rule on baby's continued life support
A baby at the centre of a life support treatment dispute is 'extremely unwell' and is likely to be feeling pain, a UK High Court judge...
Huge pay-out expected after judge rules on R20m negligence case
A couple from Bon Accord, north of Pretoria, is claiming more than R20m in damages in the Gauteng High Court in Pretoria after the negligence of...
Pharmacist acquitted of murder but convicted of racketeering
The former head of a Massachusetts pharmacy has been acquitted of murder allegations but convicted of racketeering and other crimes in a meningitis outbreak...
SA HIV Clinicians Society wins action over doctor's quackery
Judge MA Makume of the Johannesburg High Court has dismissed an application against the Southern African HIV Clinicians Society by Dr Hugh Brathwaite, a medical...
Soldier claims R2.1m for facial paralysis after 1 Military Hospital operation
A SA National Defence Force soldier is claiming R2.1m for partial facial paralysis, blaming the staff and doctors at 1 Military Hospital.
A soldier from...
Prosecution urges guilty verdict for meningitis scandal pharmacist
A US prosecutor has urged jurors to find the co-founder of a now-defunct Massachusetts pharmacy guilty of murder over the deaths of 25 people...
Pressure group acting to change SA's 'inhumane' foetus burial law
SA's 'sick' legislation that decrees that a foetus less than 26 weeks old cannot be legally buried and is treated as medical waste is...
Cannabis for medicinal use, SA draft guidelines published for comment
The Medicines Control Council (MCC) has published draft guidelines for the cultivation and processing of cannabis for medical use, proposing strict controls at every...
Mother paid damages for toddler's fall out of Mamelodi Hospital bed
The mother of a toddler who fell out of his hospital bed while being treated for pneumonia will receive R150,000 in damages from Gauteng...
Free State Health MEC hit with punitive costs over closure of Bloem radiology practice
The Free State High Court granted a punitive costs order against the MEC for Health and confirmed two interdicts prohibiting the government from closing...
Oily floor leads to default judgment against Pretoria hospital
The Gauteng High Court, Pretoria has issued a default judgment ruling that Unitas Hospital in Centurion was 100% liable for damages that a patient might prove she...
Cars seized after EC Health fails to pay negligence claim
The sheriff of the court has seized several cars belonging to the Eastern Cape Health Department, which owes a woman almost R17m in damages...
Hospital staff could face charges over patient's death
Frere Hospital staff who treated an assault victim who later died from his injuries could be prosecuted for gross negligence after a magistrate ordered...
SA HIV consultant arrested in US on money laundering charges
South African HIV consultant Dr Eugene Sickle has been arrested for money laundering linked to US funding for HIV/Aids programmes, reports The Times.
“Special agents...
Harsher penalties for medical aid fraud called for
Medical aid schemes have criticised the Health Professions Council of SA for handing down fines of R20 000 and less to doctors found guilty of...
Hawks asked to probe UKZN Med School corruption claims
The University of KwaZulu-Natal has called on the Hawks to investigate allegations of corruption at its Nelson Mandela School of Medicine. The Mercury reports...
Genesis eyes members' savings accounts in landmark appeal
Genesis Medical Scheme is battling it out with the Council for Medical Schemes in a Constitutional Court hearing that will potentially allow creditors of...
Malawi court delivers landmark HIV ruling
On 19 January 2017, the Zomba High Court in Malawi delivered a landmark ruling on the application of criminal law to cases of HIV...
SA draft medical labelling regulations
Comment is sought within three months on draft general medicine regulations with potentially significant implications for: labelling medicines intended for human use; making related...
East London nurse found guilty after being secretly filmed abusing 84-year-old woman
A nurse who kicked, slapped and elbowed an 84-year-old woman at the luxury Lily Kirchmann Home for the Frail in East London has been...
Anaesthetist gets suspended jail sentence for drug dose death of child
An anaesthetist who caused the death of a small boy by administering the wrong dose of drugs has been sentenced to four years imprisonment,...
UK's GMC updates advice on disclosure of patient details
The General Medical Council, which regulates UK doctors, published updated advice setting the parameters for when medics must not share personal information with third...
German agency must pay up for faulty breast implants – French court
A French court has ruled that German certification agency TUV Rheinland compensate thousands of women for its role in approving faulty breast implants produced...
Illegal abortion 'doctor' arrested and charged in Free State
The Free State Hawks have arrested a 53-year-old Ugandan national in Qwaqwa, posing as a qualified medical doctor and allegedly carrying out abortions.
Health-e News...
Long-awaited medical device regulations unpacked
It’s been a long time coming, but they’re finally here. Justin Malherbe, at law firm Norton Rose Fulbright South Africa writes that the long-awaited...
Fraudulent UK doctor gets prison sentence
A fraudster has been sent to prison for trying to lie his way back into the UK's National Health Service (NHS). BBC News reports...
Court lambastes Pretoria hospital over record keeping
The North Gauteng High Court has ruled that the negligence of nursing staff at Netcare Femina Hospital in Pretoria was the sole cause of...
FS Health must pay US$1m in loss of earnings to Universitas patient
Free State Health must pay US$1m to a SA technician who was working abroad, to compensate for loss of earnings following a botched heart...
Nurofen's Australian fine for misleading customers is increased
The UK manufacturer of Nurofen has been hit with an increased fine of A$6m ( $4.4m) for misleading customers in Australia, reports BBC News.
Australia's...
UK nurse guilty of murdering patients

R12.9m damages for medical negligence
The parents of a 5-year-old boy – who is physically, mentally and emotionally impaired – were awarded R12.9m in damages yesterday by the KZN High Court (Pietermaritzburg) in a medical negligence case against KZN Health.
Lining up for assisted dying
At least three people who are terminally ill are working on court applications that will allow doctors to assist in legally ending their lives, says Dignity SA.
This follows the recent landmark ruling that former Cape Town advocate Robin Stransham-Ford would be allowed to die with the assistance of a doctor, while the doctor would not be subject to prosecution or disciplinary proceedings.
Right-to-die judgment under siege
[caption id="attachment_4198" align="alignright" width="300"]
Robin Stransham-Ford last week and In better days - Pics courtesy of Netwerk24[/caption]Despite a landmark North Gauteng High Court ruling in favour of a man who wanted his doctors to be granted permission to help him die, the 'right-to-die' remains elusive for South Africans who are terminally ill.
Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi's said giving doctors the right to end a life is 'dangerous' and that the Health Department will now join hands with the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development to appeal the judgment. The South African Medical Association (Sama) has warned that even if the law were to permit medical practitioners to help patients end their lives, the ethical rules of the Health Professions Council of SA (HPCSA) would not allow this and such a doctor would face disciplinary action.
Judge Hans Fabricius suggested Parliament should give ‘serious consideration’ to introducing a draft law legalising euthanasia.
This MedicalBrief report contains also access to the full judgment.

Attempt to revive HBV patent thwarted
The US Supreme Court has brought to an end Bristol-Myers Squibb Co's attempt to revive patent protection for its Baraclude treatment for hepatitis B (HBV).
Prof Tim Noakes faces HPCSA hearing

Jail for nurse who r aped unconscious patients
A UK nurse who filmed himself raping unconscious patients behind curtains in a busy A&E, has been jailed for 18 years after admitting carrying out 27 horrific attacks.
Celiwe’s plastic surgeon to be sued

Eastern Cape Health sued over cranial drip
Sisiwe Komani is suing Eastern Cape Health with a R4m claim that her son was left with a hole in his head in February 2008 after being put on a cranial drip.