Simply Slim relaunched their new product, as spokesperson of the Department of Health (DOH) Fidel Hadebe stated on 15 April 2010, “in defiance of the MCC [Medicines Control Council] directive” — ie before it had been registered and a certificate of registration issued by the Registrar of the MCC as is required by the Medicines…
Advertisements proudly carrying the “Product of the Year 2010″ logo are beginning to pop up with annoying frequency. I chanced on one such product which, according to the proud winner, was voted product of the year in the supplements category. The Product of the Year website has not listed the 2010 winners — but it…
With tens of thousands of unregistered complementary medicines on the market, it’s interesting and surprising that the Medicines Control Council (MCC) recently ordered one product, Simply Slim, to suspend all sales and marketing until the MCC had had an opportunity to assess the product in terms of its safety, quality and efficacy. The decision was…
Butana Almond Nofomela is about to be paroled after having served 21 years for the murder of Johannes Lourens, a Brits farmer. He had been sentenced to death for this crime, but escaped being hanged by confessing to crimes committed as part of the Vlakplaas hit squad. He was subsequently granted amnesty by the Truth…
According to the meetings schedule published on the Medicines Control Council’s (MCC) website, the council’s next meeting is to be held on Friday, April 17. A request was made to have the following open letter placed on the meeting’s agenda for its consideration. Although some aspects are technical, the gist of the letter should be…
A bench of three Peruvian judges has convicted former president of Peru, Alberto Fujimori, of gross human rights violations. These were torture, kidnapping and enforced disappearances committed during the early 1990s. The Special Criminal Division of Peru’s Supreme Court concluded that Fujimori as president bore individual criminal responsibility in all three cases because he had…
Duma Kumalo was sentenced to death for participating in the murder of an apartheid-era Sharpeville councillor. Duma Kumalo was innocent. He was not even present when the murder took place. Duma was convicted on the basis of testimony of another Sharpeville resident, elicited through torture. This was revealed at the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC)….
Sunday February 22 2009 marked the seventh anniversary of the well-intentioned but ultimately misguided call-up of medicines frequently referred to as complementary medicines. Officially the call-up ended on August 22 2002, but the Medicines Regulatory Affairs Cluster of the Department of Health continues to accept documentation for these products. The Medicines Control Council (MCC) seems…
Justice Zondi’s careful and deliberate judgment in the Cape High Court case brought by the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) and South African Medical Association (SAMA) against Dr Matthias Rath and others, has several interesting consequences. The main issues in the case were whether or not Dr Rath had been conducting unauthorised clinical trials, whether or…
Judge Korman was the lone dissenting voice against the appeal of the Khulumani lawsuit in October 2007. The appeal was lodged against the judgement dismissing the plaintiffs’ claims under the United States’ Alien Tort Claims Act. The Khulumani Lawsuit, on behalf of Khulumani Support Group and less than 100 named plaintiffs, charges 23 foreign corporations…
