Legal Articles and Guides
Health Care & Social
Health Care & Social
Tin shack home to make way for golf estate
A humble tin shack in the shadow of a luxury new golf estate in the Eastern Cape will have to be demolished after a court ruled in December that the family must vacate the land. A Times Select report says the ruling leaves the Mnyaka family in Chintsa West, outside East London, until the end of February to not only break down the shack they have called home for decades, but also to exhume the remains of eight relatives buried there.
Nanny accused of abusing baby
A Cape Town woman stands accused of abusing a baby in her care and stealing items from the family's household, the Wynberg Magistrate's Court heard yesterday. Paseka Mthitshana is out on R1 000 bail. Prosecutor Nicky Konisi said a consultation with the baby boy's mother was still outstanding, notes News24.
Doctor settles, but mother seeks R23m from hospital
Vosloorus mother Edith Nombulelo has claimed R23m from a private hospital after her son was born in June 2005 with severe brain damage. A Pretoria News report says the brain damage resulted in cerebral palsy, allegedly caused by the delay in assisting her when the foetus was in distress.
Hospital group agrees to settle damages claim
Former Middelburg, Mpumalanga, maternity sister Mirri Bridger (53) has sued the Life Healthcare Group for R2m for alleged incorrect treatment and the wrong medication following an acute asthma attack in 2009. A Pretoria News report says Bridger approached the Gauteng High Court (Pretoria), saying she could no longer work after she was rendered disabled.
Sean Davison's 'right to die' case postponed
The murder trial of Sean Davison, who founded the 'right to die' organisation DignitySA, was postponed to 29 April after he made a brief appearance in the Cape Town Magistrate's Court yesterday. Magistrate Greg Jacobs granted the postponement to allow for Davison to consult his lawyer, and his bail of R20 000 was extended.
Surge in claims putting services at risk
Medical negligence claims against the state are rising at a ‘near exponential’ rate, leaving provincial health departments with an R80.4bn headache that is putting services at risk, according to data revealed in a detailed Business Day report. It says nine provincial health departments saw their medico-legal contingent liabilities increase by 33% year-on-year in 2017-18, to reach a level almost triple that of the 2014-15 financial year.
Department to pay for wire left in knee
It has taken some 15 years for former journalist Bonisile Ndaliso to get justice after doctors at the Frere Hospital left a piece of metal in his knee after an operation. The Eastern Cape High Court (East London) has found the Department of Health liable for the damages Ndaliso suffered.
Children persuade court to curb mother's spending
A widow’s two adult children have persuaded a court to curb their mother's lavish spending sprees on frivolous hobbies and other unnecessary items. According to a report in The Mercury, the elderly woman’s children said she also fell for all kinds of scams as she simply coughed up money or incurred debt to cater for her needs.
Disabled doctor claims unfair dismissal from hospital
Sarah Whitehead (33) is taking hospital giant Life Healthcare to the Labour Court, accusing it of unfairly dismissing her from Vincent Pallotti Hospital in Cape Town, says a TimesLIVE report. Whitehead claims she was fired last August – after more than four years as a part-time doctor in the rehabilitation unit, where she worked with disabled patients – on the basis of her disability.
'Sidelined' foreign-trained doctors head to
Foreign-trained medical doctors battling for internship placements are heading to court, claiming they are being sidelined, notes a Times Select report. The Health Department, however, denies there are students who have not been placed. The Legal Resources Centre’s (LRC) Durban regional office has represented more than 200 doctors so far, and it is heading to court again this year.
Mother gets R17m for hospital’s negligence
A mother who gave birth to a premature baby because unskilled nursing staff and doctors were on duty on Christmas Day seven years ago will receive R17m, says a report in The Star. The Gauteng High Court (Pretoria) ordered the office of the Gauteng MEC for Health to pay the money to little Hope’s mother, Janet Anderson.
Two more families challenged over blood transfusions
Two more Jehovah's Witness families have been taken to the KZN High Court (Durban) to force them to allow doctors to administer lifesaving blood to their seriously ill children. The two matters were added to the court's roll as a third set of parents planned to defend their refusal to allow their five-year-old son, who suffers from sickle cell anaemia, to receive blood transfusions, notes TimesLIVE.
Spanking issue gets airing in top court
While child abuse should not be tolerated, the ‘reasonable and moderate chastisement’ of children as a form of physical discipline by their parents should be allowed, the Constitutional Court heard yesterday, according to a News24 report. This was the case put forward by Freedom of Religion SA (FOR SA), which has taken a judgment striking down this form of chastisement as a defence in criminal cases, on appeal.
Cancer patient wins battle against medical scheme
A medical doctor's fight to get the Government Employees Medical Scheme (Gems) to pay for his cancer treatment has ended in victory after the company agreed to cover it, reports SowetanLIVE. Gems reviewed Dr Sipho Bvuma's application for it to pay for an expensive drug called Keytruda to treat his stage four cancer.
New rules will choke e-cigarettes – tobacco company
Philip Morris International – one of the biggest tobacco companies in the world – sees SA’s mooted tobacco regulations as an impediment to its plan to phase out its cigarette brands in favour of healthier alternatives. According to a Business Day report, the company wants to ultimately replace all its cigarettes with products that do not produce harmful smoke, such as e-cigarettes and its new iQOS range of devices, that heat instead of burn tobacco.
