Posts tagged with 'Medical'

 

Blood pressure medicine recalled due to cancer risk – but the regulator took three weeks to act

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A drug to treat high blood pressure for almost 12‚500 South Africans is being recalled after the active ingredient was shown to be contaminated by a potentially cancer-causing chemical.

The recall‚ however‚ comes almost three weeks after the drug was removed from shelves in Europe‚ the UK and the USA because the Chinese manufactured active ingredient was contaminated. The regulator‚ South African Health Products Authority (SAHPRA)‚ did not answer TimesLIVE queries about why it took so long to recall it here.

The drugs being removed from pharmacy shelves are Dynaval Co 80/12‚5mg‚ Dynaval Co 160/12‚5mg and Dynaval Co 160/25mg. They are manufactured by Cape Town-based Pharma Dynamics.

Dynaval is used to treat high blood pressure and heart failure‚ or is given to patients who have had recent heart attacks.

But SAHPRA has warned patients that it is far more dangerous to stop taking blood pressure medicine and risk having a stroke than it is t
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Vrystaatse gesondheidsdepartement stort in duie na top spesialiste bedank

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Gesondheidsorg in die Vrystaat steier steeds onder die voortdurende eksodus van sy topmedici. Pas het nog twee van die provinsie se voorste spesialiste, prof. Schalk Wentzel (55) by urologie en dr. Maryke Spruit (55) by kritieke sorg, bedank.

Dr. Freek Bester, president van die Suid-Afrikaanse Mediese Vereniging se sentrale tak, sê om die ervaring van die topspesialiste wat die afgelope jaar en ’n half geloop het te probeer ­terugwen, gaan moeilik wees.

“Dit kan tot tien jaar neem om nuwelinge aan te stel en hulle weer op dieselfde gehaltevlak te bring nadat die institusionele geheue verlore gegaan het.

“Die bedankings veroorsaak dat pasiënte wat toenemend nie meer mediese fondse kan bekostig nie aan die lot van onbekwame dokters met swak opleiding en min ervaring blootgestel gaan word.”

Die akademiese platforms by die Universitas- en die Pelonomi-hospitaal, waar mediese studente aan die Universiteit van die Vrystaat opleiding ontvang, se toekoms wor
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These are the cheapest and most expensive medical aids in South Africa

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The latest GTC (formerly Grant Thornton Capital) Medical Aid Survey for 2018 has been released, which compares local medical aid schemes on cost to members across various levels of cover.

South Africa’s medical aid industry is facing an uncertain time ahead with government recently pushing through two new healthcare bills that are set to shake up the entire system ahead of the launch of the National Healthcare Insurance (NHI) scheme.

According to GTC, there are still many lingering questions that need to be answered in term of government’s plans – with many risks in the proposed changes that could lead to higher costs for consumers who rely of private healthcare.

“The NHI and amendments to the Medical Schemes Bill are inevitable. The disparity between the have’s (some eight million members) and the have-not’s (some 45 million) is real and needs addressing. Government intervention is urgently required,” it said.

“It is however equally importa
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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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Africa gets generic version of most effective HIV drug

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NAIROBI – The generic version of the most advanced drug against HIV has been introduced in Kenya, a first in Africa where more than 25m have the disease, the NGO Unitaid said.

The drug, Dolutegravir (DTG) is the anti-retroviral drug of choice for those living with HIV in developed countries, but its high price has put it out of reach for most struggling with the disease in Africa.

“The generic DTG has two advantages: on the one hand, it is very good from a pharmaceutical point of view. On the other hand, it is much cheaper,” said Robert Matiru of Unitaid, which works to reduce the costs of medicines treating Aids, tuberculosis or malaria.

He described the drug as “the most effective HIV treatment currently on the market.”

A box of 30 pills of DTG, which lasts a month, costs between $25 and $50. The generic version only costs $4.

Kenya has already started rolling out the new drug, which will initially be provided for free to 27,000 people living with HIV
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Shortage of National cancer drug may last until October

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A deadly national cancer drug shortage is approaching its third month and patients may have to go without until October – if they can make it.

In February, Nic Basson was diagnosed with glioblastoma multiforme, a fast-growing malignant brain tumour, which is located in his brain’s language centre and affects his ability to communicate.

He was prescribed the steroid betanoid to help control inflammation associated with the tumor. But in April, his local pharmacy told his wife, Debra, that it could no longer fill his prescription, sending Debra on a frantic country-wide search for the drug – to no avail.

She explains: “Within 24 hours without betanoid my husband had lost his ability to speak.”

She continues, softly: “He also has memory loss, so even when he can find words, he forgets what he was going to say. He is essentially trapped in his own mind.”

Betanoid is not just used to treat brain tumours, the medicine is also prescribed to patients b
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Hospital cash-back plans crimped by new law

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The demarcation regulations clearly distinguish between medical insurance products and medical aid schemes. For the consumer, this means that while limited gap cover and hospital cash-back plans will still be allowed, primary healthcare insurance policies will no longer be available. All existing policies will need to align with the regulations from 1 January 2018.

Affected markets

These regulations will primarily affect those between 20 and 35 years of age. The annual Council for Medical Schemes (CMS) report shows that children up to the age of 20 usually stay on their parents’ medical aid. Then you see a significant drop in the number of dependents between the ages of 20 to 35, and then the line goes up again. This is a clear indication that the young and healthy are exercising their freedom of choice to not have medical aid cover. This is the group that, until now, has often relied on hospital cash-back plans for catastrophe cover.
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‘Private healthcare not affordable, even for people who are supposedly rich’

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The findings of the Competition Commission’s Health Market Inquiry released today reveal what Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi says he already knew – that private healthcare has become so exorbitantly expensive, even those on medical aid can’t afford it.

Moreover, the commission found – during its more than four-year-long investigation – that the market was characterised by high and rising costs of healthcare and medical scheme cover, disempowered and uninformed consumers, and a general absence of value-based purchasing.

“That private healthcare has become costlier and costlier has been proven today, some of us knew it long ago back in 2009 that private healthcare no longer affordable, even for people who are supposedly rich who are on medical aid can’t afford it,” Motsoaledi said at the briefing held in Sandton to announce the release of the much anticipated provisional report.

According to the inquiry’s chairperson, former Chief Justice, Sa
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The most expensive and cheapest medical aids in SA for 2017

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The latest GTC Medical Aid Survey for 2017 has been released, which compares local medical aid schemes on cost to members across various levels of cover.

According to GTC, medical aids are complicated schemes, and comparing them is an almost impossible task; however it has developed a review process that compares schemes across specific categories, rather than on specific services offered.

For its 2017 review, GTC screened 23 medical aids (22 open and 1 closed scheme) offering 144 plans.

The rankings in the GTC Medical Aid Survey are based on the concept of a total cost or a risk rating for each medical aid plan.

This risk rating is derived from a risk premium, which represents the premium paid monthly minus the allocation to what is known as the ‘savings’ or out-of-hospital account.

“This approach removes any differences in personal circumstances, priorities or behaviours that may influence an individual’ eventual healthcare costs,” the group said.

The savi
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Non-invasive scan for liver disease

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In the past the only way to measure a liver’s elasticity was through a biopsy, but now, a non-invasive alternative has emerged, whereby elasticity of a patient’s liver can be measured using vibration-controlled transient elastography (VCTE).

Adopted as a frontline tool for assessing liver fibrosis by the European Association for the Study of the Liver (EASL) and by the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD), the FibroScan VCTE liver stiffness testing system generates a shear wave that travels through the liver and the speed of which is measured by ultrasonic signals. The stiffness of the liver is proportional to the speed of the shear wave.

Dr Naayil Rajabally, who has been using the system in his rooms since early 2016, says if the test reveals fibrosis, treatment can begin without any need for the liver biopsy in conditions such as viral hepatitis, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), alcoholic liver disease and cholestatic liver dis
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Healtcare Services Delivery need to change in Africa

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Healthcare services delivery in Africa needs to change, but no-one is quite certain how. What is certain is that future trends will be driven by access to big data, to shape new models of care in driving innovative, affordable and accessible services, across this diverse continent.

With 1,2bn people, many enjoying a longer life, and the rise of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) there is a growing recognition of the importance of digital innovation in delivering curative and preventive care.

“The transition to digital healthcare offers opportunities to aggregate patient data from multiple sources – for example, from external healthcare providers and specialists who consult to the patient – to give them a single, accurate patient profile.

“This allows healthcare professionals to quickly connect all the dots in a patient’s care, with a view to focusing on optimum outcomes for the patient.In fact, a study in the Journal of Neurology found that putting a digital
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Hier is die 20 beste hospitale in SA

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Die resultate van die nuutste peiling onder pasiënte wat Discovery Health uitgevoer het om die beste hospitale in die land aan te wys, toon sewe hospitale wat al vier jaar agtereenvolgens op die lysie is.

Lede van mediese skemas wat deur Discovery Health geadministreer word, het aan die peiling deelgeneem oor die hospitale waar hulle in 2017 opgeneem is. Die lys is uit 140 hospitale saamgestel.

Life Healthcare, en die onafhanklike netwerk van hospitale wat lede van die National Hospital Network (NHN) is, het die meeste hospitale op die lys.

Netcare het net een hospitaal op die lys.

NHN het die meeste hospitale wat reeds vier jaar agtereenvolgens op die lys is.

Hier is die lys van die 20 beste hospitale in alfabetiese volgorde:

1. Ahmed Al-Kadi- private hospitaal (Durban, KwaZulu-Natal)

2. eThekwini-hospitaal en -hartsentrum (Durban, KwaZulu-Natal)

3. Gateway- private hospitaal (Umhlanga Rocks, KwaZulu-Natal)

4. Hillcrest- private hospitaal (
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Genesis wins case on accounting for use of medical savings funds

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On Tuesday, the Constitutional Court ruled that all funds paid by members to their schemes should be considered as assets, regardless of their intended use.

Genesis medical scheme has won its legal battle with the Council of Medical Schemes over how to account for the funds in members’ medical savings accounts (MSAs), a development that has potentially far-reaching implications for both the industry and consumers.

This technical accounting point will make a material difference in the way schemes calculate their solvency ratios that measure gross income against reserves.

Treating MSA balances as assets means schemes’ reported solvency ratios will improve, because funds accumulated in MSAs will now be considered as part of a schemes’ reserves, said Insight Actuaries joint CEO Barry Childs.

This is important because better solvency ratios mean less pressure on schemes to increase premiums.

The judgment overturned a high court ruling that the council has us
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Vier maniere om jou mediesefonds-spaargeld te rek

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Ons gee verbruikers vier maniere om hul mediesefond-spaargeld te rek.

Gebruik generiese medisyne

As generiese medisyne beskikbaar is, is dit ʼn heeltemal aanvaarbare plaasvervanger vir handelsmerkmedisyne, tensy jou dokter dit spesifiek uitsluit. “Baie generiese medisyne is klone ─ dit kan deur die oorspronklike vervaardiger op dieselfde produksielyn gemaak word. Dis net die verpakking wat verskil,” verduidelik Merle Rakusin, ʼn gekwalifiseerde apteker by die Clickswinkel in Claremont.

ʼn Generiese middel moet “bioidenties” aan die oorspronklike handelsmerkmedisyne wees, wat beteken dat die volgende presies dieselfde moet wees:

  • aktiewe bestanddeel
  • sterkte
  • gebruik en uitwerking
  • wyse van toediening (byvoorbeeld ʼn pil, inaseming of vloeistof)
  • vermoë om binne die regte tydsverloop en in dieselfde mate die verlangde vlak in die bloedstroom te bereik
    toetsstandaarde

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Day hospitals: The answer to rising health costs?

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South Africans are faced with the constant increases in the cost of living and an ailing economy, forcing consumers to cut down on spending across the board.

For a small percentage of the population, healthcare costs are covered by medical aid, but only an estimated 16% of South Africans have such coverage while the rest rely on an already overburdened healthcare system. Continuing downward pressure on the economy is pushing even those with medical cover to either reduce it, or outright terminate their membership just to make ends meet, leaving more and more South Africans vulnerable.

While there are several factors contributing to the increase in private healthcare costs, including the volatile exchange rate and its impact on the cost of importing medical equipment, the rising costs of medication, doctors’ fees, the increasing average age of principal members on the schemes, the biggest culprit is private hospital costs.

According to the Council for Medical
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