Medico-Legal
UK nurse guilty of murdering patients
A nurse in the UK has been found guilty of murdering and poisoning two hospital patients but acquitted of a third charge. Victorino Chua, 49, injected insulin into saline bags and ampoules which were then unwittingly used by other nurses on the ward – leading to a series of insulin overdoses to mainly elderly victims.Right-to-die judgment under siege
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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.
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.Prof Tim Noakes faces HPCSA hearing
The Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA) has confirmed that Professor Tim Noakes will be facing a two-day hearing relating to dietary advice he gave on Twitter. The complaint was lodged by the Association for Dietetics in South Africa's (ADSA) president Claire Julsing-Strydom.Celiwe’s plastic surgeon to be sued
Dr Ridwan Mia, the plastic surgeon who became locally famous when he treated burn victims Pippie Kruger and Celiwe Maseko, as well as the Netcare hospital group, are being threatened with a R9m damages suit. A complaint has also been lodged with the HPCSA.Blowing smoke in the face of the evidence
Two major cigarette manufacturers are threatening legal action against the Irish government over plans for a law requiring them to sell cigarettes in plain packets. The move coincides with Addiction publishing a collection of peer-reviewed research papers from 2008 to 2015 that bring together key parts of the evidence base for standardised packaging of tobacco products.Three-parent babies IVF 'breaches EU law'
Britain recently became the first country in the world to allow the creation of three-parent babies. Now 50 MEPs have written to UK Prime Minister David Cameron warning that the new laws breach the EU's Clinical Trials Directive which ban genetic alterations which can be passed down to future generations.State must pay 'moonlighting' nurses contract
Government 'ineptitude' was the cause of KZN Health hiring some of its own striking nurses who were moonlighting for a recruitment agency contracted to assist during the crisis, says an IOL report.Judge: 'Therapeutic sterilisation … not eugenics'
A British mother-of-six with learning disabilities can be sterilised, a judge has ruled. Health authority and social services bosses had asked him to authorise forced entry into the woman’s home, the use of 'necessary restraint' and sterilisation, at a hearing in the Court of Protection – where issues relating to sick and vulnerable people are examined.First UK FGM case collapses
British prosecutors have been accused of pursuing a ‘show trial’ after a National Health Service (NHS) doctor facing a landmark female genital mutilation case (FGM) was acquitted in less than half an hour, reports The Daily Telegraph.Basson allowed to apply to sack HPCSA chair
The Pretoria High Court has granted an application by Apartheid-era chemical weapons expert Dr Wouter Basson to prohibit the continued involvement of the chair of his ongoing Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA) sentencing inquiry, reports Health-e.