Claims

 

Probe exonerates Livingstone Hospital in death and maggots row

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Livingstone Hospital investigations have found that nobody can be held liable for two shocking incidents in which a patient fell to his death from the fifth floor and maggots hatched in the wound of another.

But the family of Zakes Mbeki, 29, who fell from the fifth story of the hospital early on Christmas morning, after he was admitted forseizures, want an inquest magistrate to decide who was responsible.

Clint Morris, whose leg wound became infested with maggots after he allegedly begged nurses for days to change his surgical dressings, has vowed to ensure that the hospital admits to wrongdoing.Morris, 40, had been injured in a scooter accident in December.

Eastern Cape health department superintendent-general Dr Thobile Mbengashe ordered an investigation into why maggots had hatched in Morris’s wound.

Provincial health department spokesman Sizwe Kupelo said investigators had concluded in both cases that nobody could be held responsible.

He said it w
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Is SA’s healthcare getting better?

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Globally, noncommunicable diseases were responsible for 70% of deaths in 2015, up from 60% in 2000. Ischaemic heart disease was the leading cause of death accounting for 8.8 million deaths in 2015, followed by stroke (6.2 million deaths) and lower respiratory infections (3.2 million deaths).

Communicable (infectious) diseases, on the other hand, were the cause of 12 million deaths worldwide in 2015 (in total), especially in low-income countries. These diseases include lower respiratory tract infections, diarrheal diseases, HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria.

In South Africa, the number of deaths recorded in 2015 totalled 460,236 (compared to over one million births), indicating a 3% decline in deaths processed between 2015 and 2014. The majority of deaths were due to noncommunicable diseases (55.5% in 2015), an increase from 42.9% in 2005.

Interestingly, when compared to the global situation, the leading cause of natural deaths in South Africa in 2015 was t
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Google search adds medical quiz to help diagnose depression.

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Google has integrated a medially-certified quiz into its search results to help users determine whether they have depression.

Users in the United States who search Google for depression or clinical depression will now be greeted with a link labelled “Check if you are clinically depressed”.

The link opens an integrated PHQ-9 questionnaire, which helps to identify levels of depressive symptoms.

It is important to note that the PHQ-9 quiz is not meant to act as a standalone diagnostic tool, but it can help users to identify symptoms.

Google said users should consult a medical professional for an in-depth diagnosis to determine if they have clinical depression.

Take the test here!

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Free Medical-Aid, Hospital and Funeral Plan and Insurance Quotes at www.MedSure.co.za
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“Land or die”, “land is not for white people” – Illegal land grabbers outside Stellenbosch say they are not going anywhere

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"Land or die", "land is not for white people" - Illegal land grabbers outside Stellenbosch say they are not going anywhere

About 200 community members of a nearby squatter camp outside Stellenbosch met on Tuesday outside the High Court in Cape Town to express their dissatisfaction with an expulsion order for the land that they have been illegally inhabited in recent weeks. The events took place after a Stellenbosch wine farm owner took himself to the..
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Medical software crippled by recent cyber attack

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Many doctors still can’t use a transcription service made by Nuance Communications Inc. three weeks after the company was hit by a powerful, debilitating computer attack.

Hospital systems including Beth Israel Deaconess in Boston and the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center said eScription, a Nuance staple product that allows physicians to dictate notes from a telephone, still isn’t functioning. The outage obliterated doctors’ instructions to patients, forcing some to revert to pen and paper.

The computer virus, called Petya, has sent ripples through health care, among the last industries to make the switch to digital record keeping and one of the most frequently targeted by hackers, said Michael Ebert, a partner with KPMG who advises health and life-science companies on cybersecurity.

“Health care has been late to respond to the need for protected information, and the information is worth more,” Ebert said. “It’s amazing how far behind we are
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Why must everything become a racial thing in SA: Mugg & Bean manager alleged he was fired because customers wanted “white management”

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Why must everything become a racial thing in SA: Mugg & Bean manager alleged he was fired because customers wanted "white management"

Senior officials for Mugg & Bean have rejected allegations that they dismissed a Cape Town store manager because some customers “wanted a white person” in his position. Andile Bozo lost his job with the restaurant last week, which fuelled fierce rumours about why he was fired. As TimesLive report, Bozo has worked there for four..
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Land expropriation without compensation, South African farmers face a dark, depressing and uncertain future

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Land expropriation without compensation, South African farmers face a dark, depressing and uncertain future

Northam – Northam is a small town located in Northam province of South Africa, a closely-knit community characterised mainly by mining and agriultural and game farming. The farming community in Northam is subject to the latest spat of illegal landgrabs in South Africa. Section 25 of the country’s constitution is in the process of being..
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Biggest scam in SA history discovered involving medical malpractice lawsuits – state lawyers robbed SA blind of nearly R80 bn

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A report in Sunday Times reveals that a furious Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi has uncovered possibly one of the greatest scams of state funds in South African history.

According to the paper, government is investigating collusion between people suing government hospitals for malpractice and state attorneys who either settle cases that have no merit whatsoever or defend the cases so badly that they invariably lose.

Estimates put the cost at more than R80 billion in a large-scale scam that began at least six years ago and is concentrated on hospitals in the Eastern Cape – although the practice occurs nationwide.

The Special Investigating Unit (SIU) is now probing how several state attorneys allegedly receive kickbacks from claimants’ lawyers in return for intentionally bungling cases.

Justice Minister Michael Masutha and Motsoaledi confirmed to the Sunday Times that the scams are so entrenched that the state has lost at least R60 billion since 2013 in
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Experts decry plan to consolidate small medical schemes !!

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The plan by the Council for Medical Schemes (CMS) to consolidate or dissolve small medical schemes posed risks to the people who belong to these schemes and might force some to drop their cover, industry sources warned this week.

More than 228,000 people belonged to 31 medical schemes that had fewer than 6,000 members at the end of 2015, according to the CMS 2015-16 annual report. All but three of these schemes are restricted employer groups. Restricted employer group schemes generally subsidise members on low incomes, enabling them to buy cover they could not afford on the open market.

CMS acting registrar Sipho Kabane said consolidating the industry was in line with the white paper on National Health Insurance (NHI).

Medical schemes with fewer than 6,000 principal members were targeted as they fail to meet the requirements of the Medical Schemes Act. The act says schemes must have 6,000 members to register.

Consolidation was necessary because fragmented r
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NHI white paper issues raised – National Health Insurance

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The two fundamental issues with the new white paper on National Health Insurance (NHI) are a single payer fund and the nationalisation of private healthcare without compensation.

Single payer fund

In terms of the single payer fund, the white paper believes that the NHI can use bulk purchasing power to drive down the price of healthcare services. However, it then simultaneously declares that it will accredit medical service providers – public and private – and then set the prices at which they can sell their services to the NHI. It specifically states that it will deploy a “uniform reimbursement strategy” and that accredited service providers will not be allowed to deviate from that.

This raises a fundamental question. If the NHI is going to regulate the price at which the services are being procured, why does it need to use the bulk purchasing power of a single fund to reduce prices?

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How will private healthcare evolve under Universal Health Coverage (UHC)?

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With National Health Insurance, the Competition Commission investigation and sky-rocketing costs, it’s no wonder that the private healthcare sector (and the public sector for that matter) is a tad wary about what the future holds.

However, in which ever way, shape or form it manifests itself, universal health coverage (UHC) is inevitable. It forms part of the United Nations’ sustainable development goals. “To promote physical and mental health and well-being and to extend life expectancy for all, we must achieve universal health coverage and access to quality healthcare. No one must be left behind. This places UHC as the target that underpins and is key to achievement of other Goal 3 targets.”

Set of goals

According to Dr Rufaro Chatora, World Health Organisation (WHO) country representative says UHC provides a set of goals rather than tell us how to organise a health system. “This is logical as each country faces different challenges
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16 Foods That Boost Your Immune System

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Elderberry
It’s an old folk remedy. This fruit is loaded with nutrients called antioxidants, and it may help fight inflammation. In some lab studies, an extract from the berries appears to block flu viruses. But scientists caution that more study is needed. You definitely still need to get a yearly flu vaccination!

Button Mushrooms
They give you the mineral selenium and the B vitamins riboflavin and niacin. That helps you in several ways. If you’re low on selenium, you may be more likely to get a more severe flu. Riboflavin and niacin play a role in a healthy immune system.

Acai Berry
Its dark color is a sign that it’s got plenty of nutrients called anthocyanins.
There isn’t any research that shows acai is good for any specific condition. But in general, antioxidants from foods are a key part of a healthy lifestyle.
Enjoy these berries in juice or smoothies, or try them dried and mixed with granola.

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Skok-voorbeelde van bedrog by mediese fondse aan die lig gekom

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Die gesondheidsorgbedryf is in die visier van misdaadsindikate en onderduimse praktisyns.

Dr. Gregory Pratt, mediese adviseur vir forensiese ondersoeke in die gesondheidsbedryf vir Medscheme, het op die beraad vir gesondheidsorgfinansiers in Kaapstad skokkende voorbeelde genoem van bedrog waarmee hy die afgelope maande te make gehad het.

Mediese bedrog is so algemeen “omdat dit makliker gepleeg kan word as ander finansiële misdade,” sê hy oor die sindikate wat die bedryf teiken.

Voorbeelde van bedrog die afgelope maande:

1. ’n Sielkundige wat in net 102 dae R4,3 miljoen geëis het, het glo 173 pasiënte op een dag gespreek.

2. ’n Dermatoloog het R112 000 vir net 67 minute in die teater geëis.

3. ’n Sindikaat van sielkundiges in KwaZulu-Natal wat in twee jaar R80 miljoen (sien regstelling) geëis het van een mediese fonds. Baie van dié eise was vals of erg oordrewe.

4. ’n Sindikaat van aptekers in Soweto wat in drie jaar meer as R100
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Rustenburg hearing: ‘Only expropriate white-owned land’

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Rustenburg hearing: 'Only expropriate white-owned land'

The parliamentary constitutional review committee heard on Thursday that only land belonging to white people should be expropriated without compensation. This is according to one of the hundreds of community members in Rustenburg who attended parliament’s North West leg of public hearings on whether section 25 of the Constitution‚ which deals with property rights‚ should..
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Anger over medicines supply scheme

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It is crucial for the Rev Isaac Harley to take his medication daily – it’s a matter of life and death really.

As a diabetic with a hypertensive comorbidity, he depends on his tablets and insulin to maintain his insulin levels and to manage his high blood pressure.

But it’s been one problem after the next, he told The Sunday Independent, since his medical aid recommended he use its pharmacy’s direct service to deliver his chronic medication to his address instead of claiming from a local pharmacy in his neighbourhood, Elsies River in Cape Town.

“On more than one occasion I’ve had to call to find out what had happened to my medicine.

“During one stint I had no medicines for two weeks because of delivery delays and I didn’t have funds so I had to borrow medication from my mother, who is also diabetic, and money from friends to get the other medication privately,” the 48-year-old said.

In a battle spanning several years, the Independent Community
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