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News Update
FDA adds Guillain-Barre alert for RSV jabs
The US Food & Drug Administration (FDA) has issued a safety alert linking possible Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) with two respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vaccines...
Night shift nurses raped at Limpopo clinic
Limpopo police have launched a massive manhunt after two nurses, on night duty at a local clinic, were abducted at gunpoint and then raped...
Union medical aid axes Melomed hospitals
The SA Municipal Workers Union Medical Scheme (Samwumed) has dumped the Melomed Group from its list of approved hospitals, causing an outcry among members...
Karl Bremer Hospital guard discharged after 'dragging' patient
An internal probe by Karl Bremer Hospital into the circumstances surrounding a guard dragging a patient across the floor found that the security officer’s...
North West Health seeks help with teen pregnancies
The North West provincial Health & Social Development Portfolio Committee has called for urgent action in response to teen pregnancies, and after recent revelations...
UK may reclassify ketamine as illegal use soars
Britain is considering reclassifying the anaesthetic ketamine as a class A drug as illegal use skyrockets to record levels, officials say.
Ketamine, taken by billionaire...
Pharmacy middlemen charged with inflating drug prices
America’s three largest pharmacy benefit managers have been accused by the Federal Trade Commission of significantly marking up the prices of certain medicines, including...
Marketers of CBD-coated tampons warned by FDA
The US Food & Drug Administration (FDA) has slammed a UK company for “adulterating” its products, sending it a warning letter for selling tampons...
Lilly hopes for 2026 approval for new weight loss pill
Eli Lilly expects its experimental weight loss pill – orforglipron – to be approved as early next year, and plans to release key late-stage...
Life Healthcare sells diagnostics business
SA's second-biggest private hospital group, Life Healthcare, has reached a $350m upfront payment deal for its interest in diagnostics business Life Molecular Imaging (LMI).
The...
Sierra Leone declares mpox emergency
A state of emergency was declared in Sierra Leone on Monday after the country reported its second case of mpox in less than four...
Ukraine bans organ harvesting from war casualties
The Ukrainian Parliament passed legislation last week prohibiting organ harvesting from military and civilian casualties of Russia’s invasion, the measure receiving broad support from...
Risks and benefits of human genome editing unpacked in Australian study
Scientists know about tens of thousands of DNA variants that are associated with human diseases. On their own, the vast majority of these variants...
Virus outbreak in China no mystery and not new, say SA experts
There is no need to panic over the respiratory virus outbreak in China that has stirred public concerns, according to South African experts and...
Tembisa Hospital tender tycoon landed R360m SAPS contract
Investigations have revealed that security boss and Tembisa Hospital tenderpreneur Vusimuzi Matlala, whose home and office were raided by police last week apparently in...
Blockbuster diabetic drug now in SA
Aspen Pharmacare has announced the local availability of Eli Lilly’s tirzepatide, marketed globally as Mounjaro.
Mounjaro, the once-weekly glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide receptor and glucagon-like peptide-1...
Discovery mulls SCA appeal after RAF medical costs ruling
The Gauteng High Court dismissal with costs last month of Discovery Health’s application for an order declaring the Road Accident Fund (RAF) to be...
Security staff suspended for dragging patient along hospital floor
The Western Cape Health Department has suspended two security guards who were filmed dragging a patient out of Karl Bremer Hospital, with Chief Operating...
State medical aid premiums now unaffordable, claims PSA
The Public Servants Association (PSA) has had a deluge of calls from anxious union members after the Government Employees Medical Scheme (GEMS) membership subscription...
Health Minister denies R300m spent on Cuban studies
Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi said funding students to study under the Nelson Mandela Fidel Castro Programme had cost his department only around R23m annually,...
State contracts without adequate funds unlawful, rules court
The Supreme Court of Appeal has slammed the continuing practice of government departments entering into contracts that exceed the amount appropriated for a particular...
Ramathuba threatens to sack staff over patient queues
Long waiting times at a Limpopo hospital saw Premier Dr Phophi Ramathuba warning staff that failure to assist patients promptly would result in their...
First bird flu death reported in the US
A Louisiana man who had the first severe human case of bird flu in the US has died, local health officials reported this week...
Surgeon-General wants cancer warnings for alcohol
The US' top doctor has called for risk warnings on alcohol – similar to the labels on cigarettes – after new research flagging links...
NHS trials AI tool to predict diabetes risk
England’s NHS is launching a world-first trial of a transformative artificial intelligence (AI) tool that can identify patients at risk of type 2 diabetes...
EPA warns of common chemical’s link to cancer
A recent investigation has found that formaldehyde causes more cancer than any other toxic air pollutant, exposing everyone to elevated risks of developing cancer no...
Small cost hikes on US drugs, but steeper launch prices
Although pharmaceutical companies in America pushed up the prices of at least 250 branded medications from 1 January, including Pfizer’s Covid-19 treatment Paxlovid, Bristol...
Thai health tycoon wanted for multimillion fraud scam
Authorities in Thailand have begun seizing the assets of Boon Vanasin, or “Dr Boon”, the 86-year-old founder of Thonburi Healthcare Group, who is wanted...
Sharp climb in children's death from malnutrition
In the past two years alone, more than 1 000 children under five have died from hunger, with deaths in this age group generally...
No plans yet for NHI funding through taxes – Treasury
It will take years for the National Health Insurance (NHI) fund to be established, and even longer for the scheme to roll out services,...
Killer opioid fentanyl detected in SA drug users
Recent drug tests have found people at South African clinics testing positive for fentanyl – the potent opioid causing tens of thousands of deaths...
Limited batch of Panado syrup recalled
Adcock Ingram has launched a recall to SA distributors of a batch of Panado Paediatric alcohol-free grape-flavoured syrup, due to “precipitation” detected in the...
Dodgy R836m oxygen plants deal cancelled
The National Department of Health is pulling the plug on the R836m project to install oxygen plants at 55 government hospitals, telling the Independent...
Call for Northern Cape Health boss to be fired
Political parties have called for Premier Zamani Saul to sack Dr Dion Theys, head of the Northern Cape Department of Health, after the High...
SA company poised to make key TB drug ingredients
Though several South African companies are producing HIV and TB medicines, the active ingredients that go into these medicines are usually imported from India...
Nobel winners speak out against Trump’s conspiracy-theorist health boss
More than 75 Nobel Prize winners have signed a letter urging senators not to confirm Robert F Kennedy Jr, President-elect Donald Trump’s pick to...
UK regulator probes anti-depressants safety alerts after suicide link
The UK’s medicines regulator is reviewing dozens of safety alerts for 30 common antidepressants, it has been revealed, after the recent suicide of a...
Morocco produces Africa’s first mpox tests
In a first for Africa, a Moroccan company is filling orders for mpox tests as an outbreak continues in the Congo and neighbouring countries,...
US bans common carcinogenic chemicals
In a decision welcomed by environmentalists and health advocates, America’s Environmental Protection Agency has banned two solvents found in everyday products that can cause...
Zimbabwe’s sick turn to herbalists as system crumbles
Zimbabwe’s health system continues to deteriorate, with hospitals lacking medicine, equipment and staff, and with frustrated patients turning to herbalists as an alternative –...