South African healthcare practitioners and insurers may take some comfort (on the basis that the grass is not greener) from the jury verdict of an Illinois, US Court in a medical malpractice claim against the West Suburban Medical Center and others.
The jury awarded a record US$100.6 million damages against the hospital in respect of
Parties to any dispute who rely exclusively on opinions of experts without establishing the factual basis for those opinions do so at their peril.
The opinion of an expert must be based on facts that are established by the evidence. The court then assesses the opinions of experts on the basis of ‘whether and to
In the AN case, the Supreme Court of Appeal held that despite the failure by the hospital to properly monitor the mother and foetus, during delivery, that did not cause the brain damage to the baby, which resulted from an unpreventable cause.
The hospital had a legal duty to monitor the condition of the
The claimant, a retired teacher, developed a limb tremor in 2006. The defendant treated the claimant between 2007 and 2012 and prescribed a dopamine agonist.
The claimant stated that the medication resulted in her overindulging in online shopping to the extent that she placed 200 bids on eBay during the course of one night. She
Personalised medicine involves the consideration of health risk factors and genetic information to determine individual risk profiles. This customisation of healthcare uses medical decisions, practices, treatments, and products that are tailor-made to an individual’s requirements, and is based on hereditary profile.
This could result in quicker diagnosis and a more targeted form of treatment for
The England Appeal Court has held that a father’s claim against a clinic for breach of contract for damages suffered as a result of raising his child who was born by IVF to his estranged wife without his consent were not recoverable due to legal policy.
The child was conceived via IVF using the gametes
A judgment of the English Court of Appeal which we called ‘bizarre’ and ‘peculiar’ has been predictably overturned by the UK Supreme Court. The Supreme Court found that the hospital run by the NHS Trust is liable to a patient with a head injury who had been given misinformation by the hospital receptionist that he
A doctor who covers for a colleague has an immediate legal duty to care for his colleague’s patients whilst on call.
This was recently confirmed by the Supreme Court of Appeal in a case where a doctor (gynaecologist/obstetrician) agreed to cover for a colleague. The doctor positively responded to a telephone call from a midwife
In August 2017, the English Court of Appeal denied an appeal to a gynaecologist who was struck off the roll for practising without professional indemnity cover, which is compulsory in the UK.
The doctor, who had a substantial private practice, was uninsured for a period of 5 years between 2007 and 2012. Until 2002, he
The South African Law Reform Commission has issued a lengthy paper on the investigations into medico-legal claims with proposals for the reform of the law in connection with those claims.
The paper discusses the current situation and the legal principles underlying claims for damages for medical negligence, state liability, the basis for payment of compensation