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News Update
NHS gender treatment model slammed in damning report
Children given NHS transgender treatment have been set on a path of irreversible change despite scant medical data, and based on “remarkably weak evidence” according to...
Discovery judgments mount amid RAF dispute
Discovery Health says it has obtained judgments totalling more than R170m since the RAF’s controversial directive not to reimburse past medical expenses where a...
New sentencing date for Dickason
Former doctor Lauren Dickason, convicted of the murder of her three daughters – and currently in custody at the psychiatric Hillmorton Hospital – will...
NHI will lead to more financial hardship, says DA
The DA said it commends the South African Medical Association (SAMA) for telling Health Minister Dr Joe Phaahla that the health system is not...
‘Martha’s Rule’ launches this month in UK
Britain’s three main regulators for health professionals and providers are fully supportive of the new "Martha’s Rule" being rolled out this month, giving patients...
Short-lived ALS drug faces class action suit after withdrawal
The manufacturer of the world’s newest treatment approved for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), often called Lou Gehrig’s disease, has withdrawn the drug from the...
One-year reprieve for low-cost health insurers
An 11th hour reprieve has been granted by the Council for Medical Schemes (CMS) to insurers offering cheap primary healthcare cover, giving them another...
Contaminated water linked to soaring KZN pink eye cases
The National Eye Health Advocacy Project believes there could be a link between an outbreak of ‘pink eye’ – conjunctivitis – in KwaZulu-Natal and...
Limpopo hires 300 healthcare professionals, but protests continue
The Limpopo Department of Health has hired around 300 medical experts in an effort to improve the province’s delivery of healthcare services – this...
Rubella cases reported on Garden Route
Although it has not yet declared an outbreak, the National Institute of Communicable Diseases has confirmed 11 cases of rubella (German measles) on the Garden...
Funding cuts threaten Gauteng quadriplegic NPOs
Gauteng NPOS that care for children, the elderly and disabled, are in a state of anxiety over fears that their government subsidies may be...
FDA flags heart pump linked to 49 deaths
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued its highest-level alert about a heart pump that has been linked to 49 deaths and...
Costly Ozempic can be made for less than $5 month – UK study
Ozempic, the popular diabetes drug – and similar weight-loss medications – could be manufactured for less than $5 a month, even as Novo Nordisk...
Scientist who gene-edited babies back in lab
China’s He Jiankui, the scientist who used CRISPR to create the world’s first genetically-edited babies and then spent three years in prison, said he...
Japanese supplements linked to deaths
Japanese Government health officials have launched investigations and carried out inspections on factories producing health supplements linked to at least five deaths and the...
Global research initiative opens grant applications
The MPS Foundation – a global not-for-profit research initiative that aims to shape the future of patient safety – has opened for applications for...
Only 270 out of 800 unemployed doctors placed
Out of the 800 unemployed doctors who recently petitioned the National Department of Health for jobs, just 270 have been appointed across the country,...
Eastern Cape Health starts year owing billions in unpaid bills
The Eastern Cape Department of Health, which owes suppliers R4.8bn, is in an increasingly fragile financial position – with critics saying there is no...
Eli Lilly warns of insulin shortages
Two formulations of insulin from Eli Lilly would be temporarily out of stock until the beginning of April, the company has said, citing a...
Call to declare TB a national crisis
Hundreds of people marched to the Department of Health in Pretoria last week, urging the government to escalate measures to tackle the problem of...
FDA approves ‘world’s costliest drug’ for children with MLD
A new gene therapy for the fatal genetic disorder metachromatic leukodystrophy, or MLD, will carry a wholesale price of a whopping $4.25m, its manufacturer...
Kenya faces health crisis as doctors strike looms
Kenyan doctors countrywide, including those in private hospitals, have given a seven-day ultimatum to the government under threat of a nationwide strike.
They doctors are...
Global leaders call for urgent agreement on pandemic deal
A group of more than 100 global leaders has called for governments to reach agreement on an international deal to prepare for and prevent...
‘Store acne cream in fridge to cut cancer risk – US experts
Some dermatologists are now recommending people refrigerate benzoyl peroxide products like Proactiv and Clearasil, after an independent lab in the United States found they...
Woman (81) dies after removal of ‘stone baby’ foetus
A Brazilian woman has died after surgery to remove an ultra-rare “stone baby” she had been carrying inside her for around 56 years, the...
Trio ‘bust’ for allegedly selling medicines to teens
Three KZN men have been arrested after police found them in possession of Schedule 5 medication, which they were allegedly selling to teenagers.
One of...
Temporary ambulance numbers as Eastern Cape phones cut
With Telkom lines to most Eastern Cape Department of Health facilities being cut due to non-payment of bills, the phone numbers of ambulance bases...
Scientists say they can cut HIV out of cells
Scientists say they have successfully eliminated HIV from infected cells, using Nobel Prize-winning CRISPR gene-editing technology.
Working like scissors, but at the molecular level, it...
Gauteng hires experts to help tackle toxicology backlog
Gauteng Health’s oldest outstanding toxicology test goes back a jaw-dropping 17 years – just one of more than 17 000 “cold cases” and more...
Call for action as DRC mpox spreads via heterosexuals
Experts are calling for urgent focus on the outbreak of mpox that appears to be spreading through heterosexual contact in the Democratic Republic of...
Outcry over Gambian Bill to overturn FGM ban
A decision on whether to reverse a ban on female genital mutilation (FGM) in The Gambia – which was imposed in 2015 – has...
Bayer seeks approval for ‘hot flushes’ drug
German pharmaceutical company Bayer will request regulatory approval for its menopause medication after the daily pill was shown to ease hot flushes in a...
New Zealand to ban disposable vapes
New Zealand is to ban the sale of disposable e-cigarettes, increase fines on retailers that sell to under-18s, and improve retailer regulations – this...
WHO elaborates on resistance to ARV medicine
Although the WHO recently reported that drug resistance to the gold-standard antiretroviral medicine, dolutegravir, “exceeded levels observed in clinical trials”, it has since elaborated,...
NHS England bans puberty blockers at clinics
British children who have gender dysphoria will no longer be given puberty blockers, NHS England has said, adding that there was insufficient evidence about...
FDA flags J&J, Bristol’s CAR-T therapies
US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) staff have expressed concern about Johnson & Johnson’s and Bristol Myers Squibb’s cell therapies, saying it is unclear whether...
WHO guidance aims to cut medicine harm
The World Health Organisation (WHO), which has launched new guidance aimed at reducing avoidable medicine harm, says one in 20 patients experience avoidable side...
FDA approves expanded use of liver disease drug
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the expanded use of Mirum Pharmaceuticals’ medication, Livmarli, to treat itching caused by a liver disorder...
Unpaid phone bills leave Gauteng hospitals on hold
The Gauteng Department of Health said 11 hospitals were still unreachable because of disputes with Telkom but that it had reduced its bills “significantly”...
Mediclinic cleared of billing manipulation
An independent investigation has cleared Mediclinic of intentionally manipulating billing, after allegations – by someone claiming to be a former Mediclinic employee – were...