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News Update
UK flags continuing epilepsy drug prescriptions despite risks
The Chief Safety Officer at the UK Medicines and Healthcare Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has echoed concerns about persistent sodium valproate prescribing for pregnant women.
Britain’s...
Trump demands drug companies slash prices in 60 days
President Donald Trump has given an ultimatum to Big Pharma to reduce its exorbitant prices, posting letters to more than a dozen major drug...
Cape Town hospital converted to multi-million-rand apartments
A well-known Cape Town hospital will be converted into a luxury residential and hotel development, with apartments priced as high as R23.3m, reports BusinessTech.
The...
Poor record-keeping adds to Eastern Cape medico-legal cases
A major driver of successful medical negligence cases against the Eastern Cape Health Department is its poor record-keeping, making it impossible for it to...
Family of US boy (10) sues psychiatric hospital after sexual assault
The family of a young boy allegedly sexually assaulted at a residential psychiatric facility in the Pittsburgh area has demanded accountability from the Southwood...
Nigerian nurses end week-long strike after government agrees to deal
Nurses in Nigeria’s public hospitals suspended a seven-day “warning strike” on Saturday after reaching an agreement with the government over the implementation of their...
Heads to roll after mental patients froze to death in Northern Cape hospitals
An investigation into the treatment, complications and deaths of psychiatric patients at the Northern Cape Mental Health Hospital (NCMHH) and the Robert Mangaliso Sobukwe...
Health Budget: new hospitals, upgrades and millions for HIV projects
Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi has said a new central hospital is under construction, that there are also plans to develop another three academic hospitals...
KZN Health MEC demands probe into corruption claims
KwaZulu-Natal MEC for Health Nomagugu Simelane has called for Premier Thami Ntuli to investigate the allegations of corruption levelled against her, making the remarks...
Rehab centre manager arrested after patient beaten to death
The owner of a rehabilitation centre in Limpopo has been arrested after the death of a 29-year-old man, who endured severe beatings during the...
Companies linked to Mashatile's sons scoop R49m Gauteng hospital tender
Two companies with links to Deputy President Paul Mashatile’s sons were paid R36.4m – and are owed a further R12.6m – for a Gauteng...
Forensic report exposes extent of state hospital oxygen tender fraud
The breathtaking scale of the fraud involved in a mega-million-rand project to install oxygen generation plant at dozens of government hospitals has been revealed...
SA would-be paramedics arrested in Ukraine
Two South Africans who thought they were to be trained as medical orderlies in the Ukraine have instead been arrested for desertion, after being...
FDA’s chief medical officer Prasad quits
Vinay Prasad, the US Food and Drug Administration’s chief medical and science officer, has left the health regulator, the Department of Health and Human...
Payout for vaccine injuries plan gets reboot from Kennedy
US Health Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr says he plans to tweak the country’s compensation system for people harmed by vaccines, noting that in...
Major reform after shoddy practices of US organ transplant companies exposed
US Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr has threatened to close deficient organ procurement organisations after investigations uncovered disturbing...
Kennedy officially rescinds certain flu jabs
The US has formally rescinded federal recommendations for all flu jabs containing thimerosal – a mercury-based preservative that the anti-vaccine movement has falsely linked...
China finds massive cover-up in lead poisoning of 200 children
An official investigation has found that dozens of provincial officials and hospital staff tried to cover up a lead poisoning case that made hundreds...
Call for action as SA loses 6 000 doctors and nurses annually
Experts warn that urgent intervention is needed to deal with the staffing crisis in the healthcare sector, which has seen almost 6 000 doctors...
Celebrity osteopath imprisoned for voyeurism in London
An osteopath branded “one of London’s most prolific voyeurs” and who secretly filmed and photographed up to 2 000 women as they undressed, showered...
Nurses allegedly ignored patient who miscarried at KZN hospital
Hospital staff allegedly left a young patient ignored and unattended during and after her miscarriage, with the woman being forced to sit with the...
Angry patient attacks Limpopo clinic nurse
Police are seeking information about a man who allegedly assaulted a nurse at the Tshitavha Sambandou Clinic in Limpopo on Monday night, reports TimesLIVE.
The...
Regulation urged for medical tourism weight reduction surgery
Experts are pleading for regulation to protect patients’ health amid the growth in medical tourism, which has seen surges in bariatric and weight reduction...
Colorado hospital ordered to pay spine patient $3.2m
A hospital in Denver, Colorado, has been ordered to pay a spine surgery patient almost R3.2m after he accused AdventHealth Porter staff of dropping...
MP opens criminal charge against medical schemes
The medical schemes at the centre of the alleged racial bias controversy have denied any discrimination and rejected allegations of fraud or criminal conduct,...
SA HIV programme future unclear as Pepfar dodges $400m cut
The US President’s Emergency Plan for Aids Relief (Pepfar) is to be spared a $400m funding cut that formed part of President Donald Trump’s...
DA questions Gauteng health board appointees
The DA is demanding that Gauteng Health MEC Nomantu Nkomo-Ralehoko account for at least eight ANC Youth League (ANCYL) leaders appointed to boards of...
Health MEC denies role in sacking radio DJ over migrant protests
KwaZulu-Natal Health MEC Nomagugu Simelane has denied allegations that she pressured radio station Vuma FM into terminating the employment of veteran presenter and activist...
Mpox cases rise in South Africa, Mozambique
Laboratory-confirmed cases of mpox are gradually rising in the country, South African health authorities have warned, after two recent cases were confirmed in Gauteng...
Man killed after being slammed into MRI machine by magnetic force
A 61-year-old man has died after being sucked into a MRI machine at an medical centre in New York while he was wearing a...
‘Three-parent’ babies in landmark technique progressing well
Eight healthy babies who were born in Britain with the DNA of three people in a “scientific tour-de-force” are doing well and reaching their milestones,...
FDA approves new lung cancer pill
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted accelerated approval to a first-of-its-kind pill for non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC).
The medication, called sunvozertinib and...
More than 14m children unvaccinated in 2024
United Nations health officials have said more than 14m children did not receive a single vaccine last year – about the same as the...
US faces doctor shortage after Trump visa restrictions
Although the Trump administration has softened its travel bans – lifting the J-1 visa ban last month – its pausing of visas for citizens...
HRT supplier sanctioned after safety fears
A major British supplier of menopausal HRT treatments has been sanctioned after whistle-blowers claimed patients were being put at risk, and alleging, among other...
Sarepta halts Duchenne therapy shipments
Sarepta Therapeutics will comply with an FDA request last week to halt shipments of its Duchenne muscular dystrophy gene therapy, an about-face after the...
US slammed for plan to burn $10m contraceptives for overseas women
The Trump administration has decided to destroy contraceptives worth $9.7m rather than send them abroad to women in need, reports The Guardian, in a move that...
Penicillin jab recall jeopardises syphilis gains in the United States
Pfizer has warned of a possible shortage of Bicillin L-A, a long-acting injection of the antibiotic penicillin used for treating syphilis during pregnancy, after...
Covid was a Chinese bioweapons research project, US expert claims
A report by a US Air Force officer and bioweapons expert has suggested, in a new report, that the Covid-19 pandemic could have resulted...
China widens children’s lead poisoning probe
China has expanded the probe into a kindergarten lead poisoning scandal in which more than 200 children were found with abnormally high levels of...