Juta MedicalBrief

A joint investigation into the deaths of six KwaZulu-Natal healthcare professionals has found no direct link with victimisation, workplace bullying or adverse working conditions, according to Health Ombud Professor Taole Mokoena, who warned, however, that serious systemic challenges continue to affect healthcare workers across the province. IOL reports that the investigation, conducted with the assistance of the Public Service Commission, came after complaints lodged by Health Minister Dr Aaron Motsoaledi and former chairperson of Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Health, Dr Sibongiseni Dhlomo, amid public concern and extensive media reports surrounding the deaths. The probe had sought to establish whether workplace conditions, human resource practices...

Crooked doctors, exorbitant overcharging, and procurement irregularities are pushing health costs sky-high, reports TimesLIVE, with as much as 15% of all healthcare claims being affected by fraud, waste and abuse, according to the Special Investigating Unit at the 25th Annual Board of Healthcare Funders conference this week. The sector is haemorrhaging around R40bn a year through corrupt billing practices, fake healthcare providers and procurement irregularities, and delegates at the Cape Town congress were warned that fraudulent activity is not just inflating healthcare costs but eroding public trust. Leonard Lekgetho, acting head of the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) and chairperson of the...

Private healthcare funders should dump the various legal challenges against the National Health Insurance (NHI) – which were likely to drag on for another 10 years at least – and rather engage in dialogue to address their concerns. Professor Sharon Fonn, who was one of the five members of the panel which conducted the market inquiry into the private health sector, warned delegates at the annual Board of Healthcare Funders conference this week that an exclusive focus on NHI was misplaced, reports EWN. “The fact that the National Department of Health either does not have the capacity or the will to...

Gauteng Health MEC Faith Mazibuko has called for a dedicated emergency paediatric theatre with dedicated anaesthetic and nursing support at Charlotte Maxeke Hospital. This follows her revelations that more than 200 children needing operations are on the paediatric waiting list at the facility, with some facing up to an alarming 30-month delay, reports The Citizen. The figures were revealed in Mazibuko’s written response to questions submitted in the Gauteng Provincial Legislature, with her reply outlining the extent of the backlog, the reasons, and the department’s proposals to slash delays. A total of 217 children are awaiting various surgical procedures, she said,...

The Government Employees Medical Scheme (GEMS) has been slammed by unions for its failure to obtain regulatory approval to reduce member contributions. They have also questioned whether it had made a strong enough case to the Council for Medical Schemes (CMS) for the reduction, reports Business Day. The average contribution increase for this year, initially pegged at 9.8%, was cut slightly to 9.5% in April, after union pressure, but last week the regulator rejected its request to lower the contribution increase still further, to 7.5% in July. The CMS said this decrease was not in the best interest of GEMS members...

Government has designated 36 hospitals – 12 private and 24 public facilities – to manage any Ebola patients if the virus reaches South Africa, Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi said this week. Three specialist committees have also been co-ordinating readiness exercises, running simulations and training healthcare workers, according to an EWN report. “We prepare ourselves with the assumption that the disease may come to any country,” Motsoaledi said, “and selected hospitals that will be used in the case of an outbreak.” South Africa’s preparations reflect its role as one of the region’s largest aviation hubs, with Johannesburg serving as a major gateway for...

A KwaZulu-Natal patient who sought an order preventing his former cardiologist from publishing Tiktok videos that allegedly disclosed his private medical information has had his urgent application struck off the KwaZulu-Natal High Court (Pietermaritzburg) roll, reports the Sunday Tribune. Last month, Jeffrey Chetty had approached the court seeking an urgent interdict against Dr Ntando Duze to stop the publication of videos he claimed violated his privacy and contained defamatory allegations. Duze had treated Chetty at Life Westville Hospital in March 2025. Chetty, who later sought a second opinion from another specialist at eThekwini Heart Hospital, alleges that the treatment he received...

An 18-year-old from rural Limpopo said she had to resort to an illegal abortion from a traditional healer after a nurse at a public clinic denied her a legal abortion last month, refusing to help her on religious grounds, reports Health-e News. The matriculant from Makotopong village said she had suspected she was pregnant, and this was confirmed by a pregnancy test kit from a pharmacy. Liza* said another urine test was done at her local community clinic, which also showed a positive result, and as she didn’t want the pregnancy, she opted for abortion.
She didn’t want to go back to...

The rodent-borne virus, which sickened passengers on the MV Hondius, killed three people, led to a race to find its origin and a global health alert, has been declared officially over by the World Health Organisation, reports The New York Times. Overall, there were 12 confirmed cases and one probable case of hantavirus aboard the cruise ship, including three deaths. The declaration was made after the final contact of a passenger completed a quarantine period and tested negative for the virus, said the WHO. The announcement ended a three-month saga that had scientists scrambling to find the origins of a rare vector...

The Tygerberg Hospital Children’s Trust has received a significant donation of R1 105 000 from the South African Muslim Charitable Trust (SAMCT), which will help bolster healthcare services for these vulnerable patients, reports Weekend Argus. The funding is earmarked for three critical projects aimed at enhancing paediatric and neonatal support at the hospital, which manages the largest baby unit in the Western Cape and cares for the highest number of premature infants in South Africa. SAMCT representative Faried Boltman said specialised equipment was essential for the effective monitoring and care of premature and critically ill newborns, and that saving the lives...

An enterprising and dedicated young doctor has provided a medical lifeline for her rural hometown community in KwaZulu-Natal, using her personal savings to open a clinic in a shipping container and improve access to healthcare, reports New24. A TikTok video showing the clinic being lowered into place by a crane had gone viral after Dr Nonkululeko Dlamini posted it with the caption: “From rural roots to serving rural communities. This one is for ugogo.” The clip has since attracted more than 200 000 views, with social media users praising the young doctor’s decision to return to her roots. Dlamini told News24 that...

Health authorities in the state of New South Wales in Australia have classified motor neurone disease (MND) as a “notifiable condition”, meaning doctors will be required to report diagnoses, as well as where patients live and their occupations, reports ABC News. The information will be collated in a new state registry that will help to further research into the incurable neurological condition, they said, and give researchers and clinicians a clearer picture about where cases are being identified, and whether there were environmental factors, or other factors that play a role. The decision was welcomed by Michelle Vearing, who lives in...

AstraZeneca will pay $34m to resolve a lawsuit alleging the company used illegal kickbacks, including free nursing services, to induce providers to write prescriptions for products paid for by Texas Medicaid, reports Fierce Pharma. The company has denied all accusations and said the settlement stems from “a mutual desire to avoid costly … protracted litigation”. Filed under the Texas Health Care Programme Fraud Prevention Act (THFPA), the complaint claimed AstraZeneca provided free nursing services and reimbursements to healthcare providers “under the guise of non-branded counselling”, to influence them to prescribe the company’s drugs, alleged Texas. Many of the prescriptions were covered by...

The French National Assembly has passed the assisted dying Bill – a law that has sparked controversy countrywide – with 295 votes versus 232 against, after it was rejected by the Senate in January, reports Euronews. The Bill, sparking debate on how to regulate end-of-life assistance, has undergone several amendments since its first proposal. Critics are divided, with some arguing it has been watered down in the process, while others still consider it too permissive. However, the members of the Assembly in charge of the law noted that the final text “has reached a point of balance”. The proposed law creates a...

More than 6 000 eligible people in Gauteng have already received the long-acting HIV prevention injection lenacapavir (LEN) since the phased rollout began on 8 June, the provincial Department of Health told EWN. This is 131% of the province's initial monthly target of just under 4 700 initiations, it said. Gauteng Health spokesperson Steve Mabona said there had been a strong uptake of lenacapavir in all five districts. “Tshwane recorded the highest number of initiations, sitting at 2 216, followed by Johannesburg at 1 981, Ekurhuleni 1 435, Sedibeng 377, and West Rand 121.” He added that the department had sufficient stock...

Tanzania has signed a memorandum of understanding with the United States that clinches an American investment of more than $1.3bn in the country’s health sector over the next five years, the latest in a series of deals that have caused controversy in some African countries, reports Reuters. The agreement is similar to those signed with countries including Rwanda, Kenya and Uganda. The pact says that in return for more than $1.3bn in investment, Tanzania has committed to investing $1.8bn in its health sector over the same period, according to a statement from the US embassy in Tanzania. “This joint investment reflects both...

Pivotal data for Amgen’s Tavneos have been retracted from the New England Journal of Medicine, creating another obstacle for the beleaguered autoimmune drug, reports Endpoints. Two academic authors requested the retraction citing an ongoing FDA investigation that suggested results for nine patients were re-evaluated after the trial was unblinded. NEJM editor-in-chief Eric Rubin said on Monday that this “was not disclosed in the article and is inconsistent with proper research conduct”. Amgen has been going back and forth with the FDA since January, when the agency asked it to voluntarily take Tavneos off the market. The FDA cited concerns about Tavneos’ data...

The management of Nigeria’s State Specialist Hospital, Gombe, has strongly denied allegations circulating on social media that its doctors unlawfully removed the kidney of a patient, Barira Alhassan, during a Caesarean section performed in May 2026, reports Punch. It has since paid for a CT urogram at an outside hospital in efforts to confirm that the missing kidney issue was linked to a congenital condition rather than any surgical removal, it said. In a statement, the hospital described the allegation by the patient’s brother as “false, malicious, reckless and unsupported by medical evidence or records”. Theatre records show that the woman only...

An appeal by obstetrician and gynaecologist Dr Ganes Anil Ramdhin that sought to legally force Rondebosch Medical Centre (RMC) to restore his hospital admission privileges after his suspension in 2023 has been dismissed by the Supreme Court of Appeal – with costs – reports IOL. Ramdhin has been suspended four times over the course of his career and also received multiple fines. He was also struck off the British roll in 2006 after the General Medical Council said he had shown “a flagrant disregard for his responsibilities”. The recent judgment confirms that a medical practitioner’s contract for admission privileges automatically terminates by...

A former doctor in the United Kingdom has denied 45 counts of sexual assault against hospital patients, including children, and pleaded not guilty to all charges, reports the BBC. Nathaniel Spencer from Birmingham is accused of assaulting 38 female patients – some of them girls under 13 – at Royal Stoke University Hospital and Russells Hall Hospital, Dudley, between 2017 and 2021. The case has been adjourned and his trial is due to be heard at Loughborough Crown Court in October 2027. Spencer was charged last December after what police described as complex investigation into the allegations. He faces 15 counts of sexual...