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News Update
Britain takes first step with vote to ban smoking
Britain is on course to ban smoking for an entire generation after a historic vote in the House of Commons this week, which is likely to see the UK...
Hundreds of websites flog fake weight-loss and other drugs
An Israeli cybersecurity firm has taken down more than 250 websites selling fake versions of popular weight-loss and diabetes drugs in the GLP-1 class,...
SA scientists monitor invasive mosquito
The rapid expansion in Africa of the invasive Anopheles stephensi mosquito, which can breed practically anywhere and is not fussy about water, is being...
Life Healthcare shakes up top echelons
Life Healthcare has made changes to its leadership structure after the disposal of the Alliance Medical Group (AMG), with the executive committees of Life Healthcare...
Nigeria and Kenya struggling with exodus of doctors, nurses
Medical professionals are fleeing Nigeria in droves, with the country’s sky-high inflation, low salaries and overstretched healthcare system forcing thousands of doctors and nurses...
Focus on private practice, experts urge jobless young doctors
As KZN relented after protests by unemployed junior doctors, and advertised 120 posts for medics this week, experts are suggesting that the debate should...
Health Ombud hamstrung by lack of funds
The Office of the Health Ombudsman is battling to resolve serious complaints against public and private health facilities because it has no money to hire investigators.
Health-e...
Hospital gives mother wrong baby to bury
The trauma of a mother whose baby was stillborn was compounded two months later when the hospital said she had been given the wrong...
Gauteng claims surgery backlog cleared
Gauteng Health says it has cleared its massive backlog of 37 000 operations, including of stoma reversals – completing 100 of these procedures in...
Gauteng boosts EMS services with intern programme
Gauteng’s Emergency Medical Services welcomed 1 120 emergency care interns to its newly launched Green Angels programme last week, a 12-month initiative providing essential...
Deadly eye drops kill one, infect dozens more in UK
One person has died and dozens more have been infected with antibiotic-resistant bacteria in an outbreak that has been linked to contaminated eye drops...
New injectable antibiotic approved for three uses
The US Food & Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the injectable drug ceftobiprole medocaril sodium (Zevtera) to treat adults with Staphylococcus aureus bacteremia (SAB), the agency announced...
FDA clears digital app for depression treatment
The US Food and Drug Administration is allowing the use of Rejoyn, the first prescription digital treatment for major depressive disorder that involves an innovative approach...
France a step closer to disposable vape ban
France is inching closer to a ban on disposable e-cigarettes, with lawmakers last week reaching an agreement on a Bill proposing prohibition of sales...
Pig kidney transplant patient discharged from hospital
The recipient of the world’s first pig kidney transplant was discharged from Massachusetts General Hospital last week, nearly two weeks after the surgery, to continue his...
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...