Juta MedicalBrief

Officials from the Department of Health have denied claims of flawed processes and collusive bidding linked to its controversial HIV drugs tender and in its court papers arguing against Cipla’s bid to scrap the whole tender, reports Business Day. In defence, the department said the R15.5bn ARV drug tender was awarded after a “fair and rational process” to determine which companies should be allocated a share of the lucrative contracts. The row revolves around the core contracts to supply the government with the daily pill taken by most HIV patients, effective from 1 December 2025. Manufacturer Cipla, although having previously supplied the...

The Black Pharmaceutical Industry Association (BPIA), which says less than 1% of the domestic market is held by black-owned firms, has added its voice to criticism of the Health Department’s procurement processes, claiming that black-owned companies are being hobbled by lack of government support, while still battling to overcome the apartheid legacy, reports Business Day. Chairperson Kingsley Tloubatla of the BPIA – an advocacy group of more than two dozen black-owned firms, including manufacturers, wholesalers and pharmacies – said white-owned firms had benefited from direct support from the apartheid government, but black-owned companies remained locked out of South Africa’s R56.4bn...

Chronic staffing shortages are adding huge pressure to South Africa’s already over-burdened public health sector, and unions say that unemployed doctors could plug the gaps and lighten the excessive workloads of existing medical professionals, reports IOL. Medical organisations have warned that currently, doctors are being forced to work extended shifts and unrealistic overtime to keep services functioning, and that sustained pressure leads to fatigue and burnout. Health and Other Public Sector Employees’ Union of South Africa (HOSPERSA) Gauteng provincial secretary Nhlanhla Mthize said the organisation was concerned about the apparent contradiction between qualified doctors who remain unemployed, and persistent shortages of doctors. HOSPERSA also...

The South African Health Products Regulatory Authority (SAHPRA) is recalling four batches of Arya Enalapril 10mg,  commonly used to treat high blood pressure (hypertension). The Class II-Type A recall is being implemented by Arya Pharma (Pty) Ltd in consultation with SAHPRA, and is limited to specific batches. The regulator is urging patients, healthcare professionals, pharmacies, wholesalers and other medicine suppliers to immediately check their stock to identify affected batches, which must then be quarantined and returned through the established supply chain in accordance with the recall instructions issued by Arya Pharma.   See more from MedicalBrief archives:   FDA recalls 600 000 bottles of...

The Health Department in the Eastern Cape failed to pay 2 340 invoices within 30 days – worth a staggering R161.9m – with 48% of all invoices processed in March being paid late, reports Newsday. In total, provincial departments, which included Transport, the second biggest offender with 1 518 unpaid bills, did not pay 4 096 invoices worth R291.8m on time, according to a statement from Vicky Knoetze, a member of the Eastern Cape Provincial Legislature. Knoetze slammed the figures, saying the habit places pressure on companies doing business with a province where unemployment has surged to 47.5%, the highest in...

Public health and healthcare groups, among others, are urged to be on the alert for a ransomware group actively targeting the sector, according to a warning issued by the FBI, Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, and international partners, reports Becker’s Hospital Review. The joint advisory said Gunra first emerged in April 2025 as a ransomware variant built from leaked Conti source code, then expanded into a ransomware-as-a-service operation in 2026. The group has hit healthcare and public health, financial services, government and professional/NPOs across Africa, America, Europe, the Middle East, and the Asia-Pacific region, with attacks accelerating this year. Gunra actors gain...

The only day hospital in Gqeberha with a licence for overnight patients reached another significant milestone last week with the unveiling of its expansion, designed to meet the growing healthcare needs of the city and the Eastern Cape, reports The Herald. Edge Day Hospital first opened its doors on in August 2021 as the vision of local facial plastic surgeon Dr Cameron McIntosh, founding president of the Society of Rhinoplasty Surgeons of South Africa (SORSSA), who prioritises education and research in the field. Since then, the original 15-bed, two theatre, multidisciplinary facility has earned a reputation for combining advanced medical technology...

Crippling delays and queues, compounded by sparse, apathetic employees, are frustrating outpatients at Rob Ferreira Hospital in Mbombela, who have complained that staff shortages at the tertiary facility lead to excruciatingly long waiting times at file collection and pharmacy counters, reports The Citizen. Despite recent infrastructure repairs having finally been completed, with the Department of Health confirming that hot water systems and broken doors have been repaired, patients say they wait hours to be called after putting their files on the counters. Some have claimed that staff don’t bother to prioritise the elderly or those who are critical. Others have said they...

Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Health this week began analysing the wording of the Tobacco Products and Electronic Delivery Systems Control Bill’s preamble and definitions, clause by clause, reports IOL. The deliberation came after a public participation process in which the committee received written and oral submissions from stakeholders and the public, including during hearings held across all nine provinces. Committee chairperson Faith Muthambi said the submissions had provided the committee with valuable perspectives on the practical implications of the proposed legislation. Members were asked to submit their proposed amendments to the secretariat, with the drafting team expected to work through the proposals...

Six companies are being sued by Eli Lilly for selling versions of its experimental weight-loss drug retatrutide, with the company saying this is just the beginning of a concerted effort to crack down on a vast illicit market, CBS News reports. That market has boomed even though retatrutide is still being studied in clinical trials and hasn’t been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration as safe and effective. Federal law prohibits the commercial sale of unapproved drugs, but various telehealth firms, clinics and peptide vendors online have decided to offer the next-generation drug anyway, as promising results from Eli Lilly’s trials have...

Chinese analysts say the country is anticipating the emergence – within the next decade – of a home-grown pharmaceutical giant capable of competing with global players in a decade, reports the South China Morning Post. “For the past three decades, there was only one global research and development ecosystem, which was the United States,” said Fu Wei, founder and CEO of CBC Group, a healthcare-dedicated asset management firm founded in Shanghai and now based in Singapore. “Over the past decade, a parallel ecosystem – China – has emerged. We are not only more cost-efficient, but also faster in drug innovation, and...

The WHO says the runaway outbreak of Ebola in the Democratic Republic of Congo is likely to overtake the deadliest outbreak of the disease ever – a decade ago, reports the BBC. The agency’s director-general, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said that the 2026 outbreak, “at its current pace”, would “eclipse” that of the 2014-2016 occurrence, which killed at least 11 000 people. At least 4 300 cases have been recorded so far, with more than 2 000 deaths. The WHO said last week that it hoped to reverse the spread of the disease within three months but warned that this meant bringing transmission...

A recent survey in the United States has found that injected weight loss drugs are still preferred by physicians over newer oral treatments – by a significant margin – with Eli Lilly’s Zepbound topping the charts, reports Fierce Pharma. According to healthcare specialists Spherix Global Insights, the poll, with input from 185 American specialists, showed that 80% were highly satisfied with Zepbound, compared with 59% for Novo Nordisk’s rival injectable, Wegovy. Though it remains early in the launches of Novo’s oral version of Wegovy and Lilly’s GLP-1 pill Foundayo, 48% and 47% of those surveyed were highly satisfied with the newer...

Still fixated on the unproved theory that vaccines are linked to autism, last week – for the third time in less than a year – President Donald Trump inked yet another executive order, this time calling for children to be routinely immunised against fewer diseases, as they are in countries like Denmark, reports The New York Times. It is not clear if the order has any legal power. In the US, vaccine recommendations are made by a committee of experts who advise the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention. These would then be adopted by the agency’s director. But only...

The current timeline for the commissioning of the new Tygerberg Central Hospital is only in the 2033/34 financial year, despite the building project first being announced back in 2009. This is according to Western Cape Department of Health &Wellness Tygerberg Hospital public-private partnership (PPP) project officer Klaas Langenhoven at a recent provincial Infrastructure Ministerial Roundtable. Engineering News reports that the existing Tygerberg Hospital opened its doors in 1976, and the new facility will be on the same site, on the western side of the campus. Langenhoven said the 893-bed facility received TA1 approval – the first in a string of  approvals required – from National Treasury in...

The National Education, Health and Allied Workers’ Union (Nehawu) in the Free State has pledged its full support to three hospital staff attacked by a patient, urging the Health Department to take responsibility for the incident, reports the SABC. Molahlehi Takadimane, apparently a mentally challenged patient, and who allegedly attacked two nurses and a cleaner during a night shift in May at the Thabong District Hospital in Odendaalsrus, appeared briefly in the Magistrate’s Court last week before the matter was postponed to 26 August for further investigation. Nehawu national treasurer Kgomotso Makhupola said the Department of Health must provide the three employees...

Aspen Pharmacare has, for the third year in a row, given a financial boost – of R1.4m – to the University of Cape Town’s (UCT) Poisons Information Centre, based at the Red Cross War Memorial Children’s Hospital and which plays a crucial role in researching and disseminating toxicology information to healthcare professionals and the public. Aspen’s Group senior executive Dr Stavros Nicolaou said Aspen remained “committed to this partnership and the public impact it delivers” in support of poisoning emergencies. “This is the third consecutive year that we have funded the helpline, highlighting our commitment to this critical and essential national...

A child’s severe brain injury and subsequent cerebral palsy were unrelated to the birth procedure and resulted from an infection developed before labour, the Supreme Court of Appeal found, rejecting a mother’s claim for R28.2m in damages but slamming missing records and a failure to call critical witnesses, reports IOL. The court also criticised and highlighted the wider problem of substandard care in some Eastern Cape public hospitals. The woman’s legal battle with the Eastern Cape Department of Health revolved around the birth of her son in 2019, who suffered a serious brain injury at Dora Nginza Provincial Hospital in Gqeberha. His...

The Mpumalanga Department of Health has been found fully liable for the damages and brain injury of a child born at Piet Retief Hospital in 2009, but in another, separate case, was given a slight reprieve when a mother’s claim for R2.5m for general damages was turned down – although she will still be paid out R600 000 from the department, reports IOL. In the first case in the Mpumalanga High Court (Mbombela), inadequate foetal monitoring during labour amounted to negligence and caused the child's cerebral palsy, ruled Acting Judge President Takalani Ratshibvumo in a claim brought by the child’s mother...

A US woman has filed a lawsuit against a health group alleging that she was wrongly diagnosed with cancer and underwent an unneeded hysterectomy because of a labelling error, reports MedPage Today. Cassandra Barksdale and her attorneys have sued Kaiser Permanente – a major integrated managed care consortium that combines health insurance coverage and medical services into a single system – saying the mix-up led to the surgery and months of physical and emotional pain. The lawsuit alleges that another patient’s tissue sample was mistakenly labelled as belonging to Barksdale, who at 43 then underwent a full hysterectomy on 15 May...