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MPS Column
Ivermectin: The legal pitfalls facing a prescribing practitioner
A medical practitioner who prescribes Ivermectin to a patient takes on a considerable legal liability, including the possibility of legal censure, unless the letter...
Coping with power outages – advice for healthcare professionals
Dr Tony Behrman, Medicolegal Business Consultant for Medical Protection, writes on the challenges of load shedding for South African healthcare professionals.
Dr Behrman writes:
By now...
Ivermectin: The legal pitfalls facing a prescribing practitioner
A medical practitioner who prescribes Ivermectin to a patient takes on a considerable legal liability, including the possibility of legal censure, unless the letter...
Medical Protection Society – Setting the record straight
A recent article in the Financial Mail contained misleading information about MPS – the Medical Protection Society – writes Graham Craig, MPS Business Development...
How much risk are YOU willing to bear?
Dr Volker Hitzeroth, Medicolegal Consultant for Medical Protection, writes on the breadth of medicolegal risk that Health Care Practitioners (HCPs) face while practising their...
POPIA is coming into force – are you ready?
MPS has fielded many questions on POPIA, South Africa's data privacy legislation which comes into force shortly, and is providing a range of guidance...
Wellbeing and psychological health for health care practitioners
Despite the glimmer of light and hope at the end of the COVID-19 tunnel, the situation remains serious, and both clinicians and healthcare systems...
Best practice: COVID-19 vaccinations
At the time of publication, South Africa is scheduled to receive the first doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine from the Serum Institute of...
Doctors see benefits of telehealth — concerned some patients may get left behind
The past year has been full of challenges and changes for South Africa’s medical profession. A single article could not do justice to the...
The arrest of a health professional — how it happens and why it should only be a last resort
Averaged out over the last 10 years Medical Protection has supported members with roughly one new case per month in South Africa that is...
Munshi: Reflecting on a tragedy
The tragic death of Dr Abdulhay Munshi's death has brought into sharp focus how the law around culpable homicide is being applied to healthcare...
ConCourt ruling: Conviction overturned – but what now for the profession?
The Constitutional Court ruling setting aside the criminal conviction of obstetrician/gynaecologist Dr Danie van der Walt sets an uncomfortable precedent for the medical profession, writes Dr...
The hard truths exposed by COVID-19
The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed some hard truths particularly with respect, but not limited to, resources, writes Dr Graham Howarth of MPS. Another area...
Need for national guidelines over criminal charges
The “overwhelming feedback” from South African healthcare professionals is that they remain concerned about criminal and regulatory charges over COVID-19 treatment decisions, writes Dr Graham...
COVID-19: National guidelines needed to support medical profession
The Medical Protection Society (MPS) is calling for the Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA) to urgently clarify what guidelines healthcare professionals should...
What next for the doctors fighting COVID-19?
It is important to understand that ethics and law are not automatically synonymous, writes Dr Graham Howarth, head of medical services – Africa, MPS....
Have a conversation while you can
This pandemic has raised an opportunity for doctors and their patients to start the worst-case conversation to ensure patients are empowered to make good...
MPS welcomes HPCSA Guidelines on telemedicine
The Medical Protection Society welcomes the Health Professions Council of SA’s updated guidelines on telemedicine, confirming MPS’s position that telemedicine should be supported to...
COVID-19 medico-legal dilemmas for South African practitioners
COVID-19 has thrown up a challenging array of medico-legal dilemmas for SA's healthcare professionals as they try to safe and effective care, writes Dr...
Take note: Doctors want more guidance on record keeping
An MPS survey of South African doctors has found that the overwhelming majority have not undertaken specific training in record keeping and want...
Prosecuting healthcare professionals for culpable homicide – who benefits?
Medical Protection's Graham Howarth, head of medical services (SA) and Tony Behrman, business consultant write:
The recent arrest of colleagues on charges of culpable homicide...
The beauty of mediation to ease the trauma of medical negligence litigation
Clinical negligence claims are stressful, costly and time consuming. Moves towards mediation instead of litigation are to be welcomed, writes Dr Tony Behrman,...
The risks and hazards of social media for doctors
Dr Graham Howarth, head of medical services, Africa, at Medical Protection looks at best practice where social media is concerned.
Howarth writes:
The Health Professions...
We all have a role in tackling the burnout epidemic
Burnout, recently recognised by the World Health Organisation as a syndrome brought about by chronic workplace stress, is reaching epidemic levels, writes Graham...
State doctors need protection more than ever, including from the state
Not only does the State want to lessen its negligence claims burden by now trying to shed its traditional legal responsibility to indemnify...
Tolerating error in an imperfect system
It is time to acknowledge that the healthcare system in South Africa is under unprecedented strain and that doctors should not be held solely...
NHI Bill needs to address indemnity for both doctors and patients
The current draft Bill that limits State compensation in medical negligence cases leaves unclear matters that are important to both practitioners and patients, writes...
Spiralling litigation: Time to strike a balance
Practising in an increasingly litigious society makes for challenging times for medical practitioners, writes Tony Behrman, Medical Protection Society consultant. MPS has made concrete...
Power outages. A medical practitioners' perspective
Since January 2019 over 60% of all major incidents reported in a large chain of national hospitals were related to power outages. MPS business...
Understanding the medico-legal landscape in South Africa
Medical Protection took to the road recently to speak to members face-to-face on a range of topics pertinent to their practice in South Africa....
The legal permutations of being a Good Samaritan
SA doctors have a constitutional duty of care, writes Dr Tony Behrman, consultant for the Medical Protection Society. But unlike some countries where if...
Covering for your colleagues. Responsibility reconfirmed
Dr Tony Behrman, medical business consultant at Medical Protection writes that a recent case heard in the Supreme Court of Appeal SCA 529/2017 has highlighted...