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Health Law

Welcome to the Health Law & Ethics Research Interest Group

We aim to engage in topical health law and ethics research and teaching from a uniquely South African perspective, and to impact on the South African, African, and global health law and ethics landscape.

Colloquium Series on African Philosophy, Genetics and Genomics

On an undergraduate level, we present Bioethics as an elective to LLB students. On a postgraduate level, we offer a research LLM, and coursework LLM in Medical Law, and a research PhD. Our undergraduate course in Bioethics is typically taken by about 100 students every year. Our main areas of interest are

Reproductive law & ethics
Children’s rights – research, reproduction
New technologies & health care
Big data, genomics, and health law
End-of-life

Members

Here is a list of our most recent publications:

COVID-19

WM Botes & DW Thaldar ‘COVID-19 and quarantine orders: A practical approach’ (2020) 110(6) South African Medical Journal 1–4. https://dx.doi.org/10.7196/SAJBL.2018.v11i2.653
PD Gopalan, IA Joubert, F Paruk, D Baker, I Coetzee, K de Vasconcellos, LM Dolo, BL Levy, BM Morrow, JM Nel, S Omar, JL Piercy, RS Siebert, L Veldsman, JA Singh & K Moodley ‘The Critical Care Society of Southern Africa guidelines on the allocation of scarce critical care resources during the COVID-19 public health emergency in South Africa’ (2020) 110(5) South African Medical Journal 355–359. http://www.samj.org.za/index.php/samj/article/view/12986
DJ McQuoid-Mason ‘COVID-19 : May hospitals in one province of South Africa reserve empty beds for patients from their province and turn down emergency requests from other provinces?’ (2021) 111(4) South African Medical Journal 304–306. https://doi.org/10.7196/SAMJ.2021.v111i4.15554
DJ McQuoid-Mason ‘COVID-19 : what should employers do if employed health professionals such as doctors and nurses refuse to treat COVID-19 patients despite being provided with the required personal protective equipment?’ (2020) 13(2) South African Journal of Bioethics and Law 87–90. https://doi.org/10.7196/SAJBL.2020.v13i2.00733
DJ McQuoid-Mason ‘COVID-19 and its impact on informed consent : what should health professionals tell their patients or their proxies?’ (2020) 13(1) South African Journal of Bioethics and Law 1–4. http://www.sajbl.org.za/index.php/sajbl/article/view/627
DJ McQuoid-Mason ‘COVID-19 and patient-doctor confidentiality’ (2020) 110(6) South African Medical Journal 1–2. http://www.samj.org.za/index.php/samj/article/view/12915
DJ McQuoid-Mason ‘COVID-19: May healthcare practitioners ethically and legally refuse to work at hospitals and health establishments where frontline employees are not provided with personal protective equipment?’ (2020) 13(1) South African Journal of Bioethics and Law 1–4. http://www.sajbl.org.za/index.php/sajbl/article/view/628
DJ McQuoid-Mason‘Do COVID-19 patients needing extended care in an intensive care unit fall under the ’emergency medical treatment’ provisions of the South African Constitution?’ (2021) 111(1) South African Medical Journal 23–25. http://www.samj.org.za/index.php/samj/article/view/13177
DJ McQuoid-Mason ‘Is the COVID-19 regulation that prohibits parental visits to their children who are patients in hospital invalid in terms of the Constitution? What should hospitals do?’ (2020) 110(9) South African Medical Journal (online). http://dx.doi.org/10.7196/samj.2020.v110i11.15273
DJ McQuoid-Mason ‘May a sample be legally removed or an autopsy undertaken without an advance directive or proxy consent to determine whether a critical care patient at risk of COVID-19 infection has died as a result of the virus?’ (2020) 110(9) South African Medical Journal 1–2. http://dx.doi.org/10.7196/samj.2020.v110i10.15190
DJ McQuoid-Mason ‘Sending patients electronic reminders on the need for urgent treatment to prevent life-threatening illnesses: Some lessons to be learned and a cautionary reminder’ (2019) 109(19) South African Medical Journal 845–847. http://dx.doi.org/10.7196/samj.2019.v109i11.14113
DJ McQuoid-Mason ‘What should private-sector doctors do when relatives of deceased patients pressurise them to prevent medicolegal autopsies in cases of unnatural death?’ (2019) 109(10) South African Medical Journal 743–744. http://dx.doi.org/10.7196/samj.2019.v109i10.14117
JA Singh ‘COVID-19 vaccine trials: Duty of care and standard of prevention considerations’ (2020) 38(48) Vaccine 7578–7580. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.vaccine.2020.10.012
JA Singh ‘COVID-19 vaccines : How Structural Factors Can Vitiate Patient Autonomy and Dictate Vaccine Choice’ (2021) Verfassungsblog: On Matters Constitutional 1–8. http://dx.doi.org/10.17176/20210510-181550-0
JA Singh ‘COVID-19: Mandatory institutional isolation v. voluntary home self-isolation’ (2020) 110(6) South African Medical Journal 1–3. http://www.samj.org.za/index.php/samj/article/view/12914
JA Singh ‘COVID-19: Science and global health governance under attack’ (2020) 110(6) South African Medical Journal 1–2. http://www.samj.org.za/index.php/samj/article/view/12908
JA Singh ‘How South Africa’s Ministerial Advisory Committee on COVID-19 can be optimised’ 2020 110(6) South African Medical Journal 1–4. http://www.samj.org.za/index.php/samj/article/view/12948
JA Singh ‘The Case for Why Africa Should Host COVID-19 Candidate Vaccine Trials’ (2020) 222(3) The Journal of Infectious Diseases 351–355. https://doi.org/10.1093/infdis/jiaa303
JA Singh & R Ravinetto ‘COVID-19 therapeutics: how to sow confusion and break public trust during international public health emergencies’ (2020) 13 Journal of Pharmaceutical Policy and Practice 1–7. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40545-020-00244-0
JA Singh & REG Upshur ‘The granting of emergency use designation to COVID-19 candidate vaccines: implications for COVID-19 vaccine trials’ (2021) 21(4) Infectious Diseases e103–e109. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1473-3099(20)30923-3
JA Singh , A Habib & J Jansen ‘Freedom of speech and public interest, not allegiance, should underpin science advisement to government’ (2020) 110(7) South African Medical Journal 1–3. http://www.samj.org.za/index.php/samj/article/view/12954
JA Singh , S Kochhar, J Wolff & the WHO ACT-Accelerator Ethics & Governance Working Group ‘Placebo use and unblinding in COVID-19 vaccine trials: recommendations of a WHO Expert Working Group’ (2021) 27 Nature Medicine 569–570. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41591-021-01299-5
JA Singh , SVS Bandewar & EA Bukusi ‘The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic response on other health research’ (2020) 98(9) Bulletin World Health Organisation 625–631. http://dx.doi.org/10.2471/BLT.20.257485
DW Thaldar ‘Ivermectin and the rule of law’ (2021) 14(2) South African Journal of Bioethics and Law 61–63. https://doi.org/10.7196/SAJBL.2021.v14i2.763
BA Townsend, M Mars & RE Scott ‘The HPCSA’s telemedicine guidance during COVID-19: a review’(2020) 13(2) South African Journal of Bioethics and Law 97–102. https://doi.org/10.7196/SAJBL.2020.v13i2.725

Gene editing and genomics research

M Botes ‘Sanctity of the human genome as foundation of life’ (2020) 8(9) Medical Research Archives 1–10. https://doi.org/10.18103/mra.v8i9.2220
M Botes ‘The birth of twins sparked a global bioethics debate’ (2019) 19(7) Without Prejudice. https://hdl.handle.net/10520/EJC-174910cc38
S Pillay & D Thaldar ‘CRISPR: Challenges to South African biotechnology law’ (2018) 11(2) South African Journal of Bioethics and Law 89–92. https://doi.org/10.7196/SAJBL.2018.v11i2.653
B Shozi ‘Does human germline genome editing violate human dignity? An African perspective’ (2021) 8(1) Journal of Law and the Biosciences 1–14. https://doi.org/10.1093/jlb/lsab002
B Shozi, T Kamwendo, J Kinderlerer, DW Thaldar, B Townsend & M Botes ‘Future of global regulation of human genome editing: a South African perspective on the WHO Draft Governance Framework on Human Genome Editing’ (2021) Journal of Medical Ethics 1–4. http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/medethics-2020-106863
S Soni ‘Cautious Progress Toward Clinical Application of Human Gene Editing’ (2020) 3(1) The CRISPR Journal 3–4. https://doi.org/10.1089/crispr.2020.29083.sso
S Soni ‘CRISPR and the Law: A South African Perspective’ (2020) 3(2) The CRISPR Journal 81¬–82. https://doi.org/10.1089/crispr.2020.29089.sso
D Thaldar & B Shozi ‘Procreative Non-Maleficence: A South African Human Rights Perspective on Heritable Human Genome Editing’ (2020) 3(1) The CRISPR Journal 32–36. https://doi.org/10.1089/crispr.2019.0036
D Thaldar , M Botes, B Shozi, B Townsend & J Kinderlerer ‘Human germline editing: Legal-ethical guidelines for South Africa’ (2020) 116(9–10) South African Journal of Science 1–7. https://doi.org/10.17159/sajs.2020/6760
B Townsend ‘Human genome editing: how to prevent rogue actors’ (2020) 21 BMC Medical Ethics 1–10. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12910-020-00527-w
B Townsend & B Shozi ‘Altering the Human Genome: Mapping the Genome Editing Regulatory System in South Africa’ (2021) 24(1) Potchefstroom Electronic Journal 1–28. http://dx.doi.org/10.17159/1727-3781/2021/v24i0a9179

Reproduction

B Shozi ‘Legal issues in posthumous conception using gametes removed from a comatose male: the case of Ex Parte SN’ (2021) 14(1) South African Journal of Bioethics and Law 28–32. https://journals.co.za/doi/abs/10.7196/SAJBL.2021.v14i1.728
S Soni ‘Prêt-à-Porter Procreation: Contemplating the Ban on Preimplantation Sex Selection’ (2019) 22(1) Potchefstroom Electronic Journal 1–36. http://dx.doi.org/10.17159/1727-3781/2019/v22i0a5681
D Thaldar ‘Criteria for assessing the suitability of intended surrogate mothers in South Africa : reflections on Ex Parte KAF II’ (2019) 12(2) South African Journal of Bioethics and Law 61–65. https://doi.org/10.7196/SAJBL.2019.v12i2.00670
D Thaldar ‘Egg donors’ motivations, experiences, and opinions: A survey of egg donors in South Africa’ (2020) 15(1) PLoS ONE 1–13. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0226603
D Thaldar ‘Is It time to reconsider the ban on nontherapeutic pre-implantation sex selection?’ (2019) 136(2) The South African Law Journal PAGE. https://hdl.handle.net/10520/EJC-17af00e68e
D Thaldar ‘Post-truth jurisprudence: the case of AB v Minister of Social Development’ (2018) 34(2) South African Journal on Human Rights 231–253. https://doi.org/10.1080/02587203.2018.1497124
D Thaldar ‘Posthumous conception: Recent legal developments in South Africa’ (2018) 108(6) South African Medical Journal 471–473. http://dx.doi.org/10.7196/samj.2018.v108i6.13182
D Thaldar ‘The in Vitro Embryo and the Law: The Ownership Issue and a Response to Robinson’ (2020) 23(1) Potchefstroom Electronic Journal 1–20. http://dx.doi.org/10.17159/1727-3781/2020/v23i0a6217
D Thaldar ‘The Constitution as an Instrument of Prejudice: A Critique of AB v Minister of Social Development’ (2019) 9 Constitutional Court Review 343–361. https://doi.org/10.2989/CCR.2019.0013
D Thaldar ‘The need to develop objective criteria for suitability as a surrogate mother: Reflections on Ex Parte KAF’ (2018) 11(1) South African Journal of Bioethics and Law 35–37. http://dx.doi.org/10.7196/SAJBL.2018.v11i1.00618

Health research

B Shozi ‘Something old, something new: applying reproductive rights to new reproductive technologies in South Africa’ (2020) 36(1) South African Journal on Human Rights 1–24. https://doi.org/10.1080/02587203.2020.1776632
D Thaldar ‘One material transfer agreement to rule them all? A call for revising South Africa’s new standard material transfer agreement’ (2020) 7 Humanities and Social Sciences Communications 1–5. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-020-00600-0
D Thaldar & B Townsend ‘Protecting personal information in research: Is a code of conduct the solution?’ (2021) 117(3–4) South African Journal of Science 1–2. http://dx.doi.org/10.17159/sajs.2021/9490
DW Thaldar & BA Townsend ‘Exempting Health Research from the Consent Provisions of POPIA’ (2021) 4 Potchefstroom Electronic Journal 1–32. https://doi.org/10.17159/1727-3781/2021/v24i0a10420
D Thaldar , B Townsend , C Staunton, R Adams, M Botes, ES Dove, L Horn, M Labuschaigne, G Loots, S Mahomed, A Olckers, MS Pepper, M Pope, M Ramsay, NN Loideain & J De Vries ‘Letter to the editor: Privacy rights of human research participants in South Africa must be taken seriously’ (2020) 110(3) South African Medical Journal 175–176. http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11910/15185
D Thaldar, M Botes & A Nienaber ‘South Africa’s new standard material transfer agreement: proposals for improvement and pointers for implementation’ (2020) 21 BMC Medical Ethics 1–13. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12910-020-00526-x
BA Townsend ‘The lawful sharing of health research data in South Africa and beyond’ (2021) Information & Communications Technology Law 1–17. https://doi.org/10.1080/13600834.2021.1918905
BA Townsend & DW Thaldar ‘Navigating uncharted waters: biobanks and informational privacy in South Africa’ (2020) 35(4) South African Journal on Human Rights 329–350. https://doi.org/10.1080/02587203.2020.1717366

Medical malpractice

F Mnyongani & M Slabbert ‘The cost of indifference in a medical negligence case : Lushaba v MEC for Health, Gauteng (17077/2012 [2014] ZAGPJHC 407 (16 October 2014))’ (2018) 39(2) Obiter 561–573. https://hdl.handle.net/10520/EJC-120e08bbe5
B Townsend & D Thaldar ‘Informed consent in medical malpractice suits : an analysis of Beukes v Smith’ (2020) 137(1) South African Law Journal 13–25. https://hdl.handle.net/10520/EJC-1c03a324e6

Scientific freedom

DW Thaldar & M Steytler ‘Time for Cinderella to go to the ball: Reflections on the right to freedom of scientific research’ (2021) 138(2) The South African Law Journal 260–288. https://doi.org/10.47348/SALJ/v138/i2a2

School of Law

Health Law

Welcome to the Health Law & Ethics Research Interest Group

Members

Professor Donrich Thaldar

Dr Beverley Townsend

Dr Marietjie Botes

Bonginkosi Shozi

Michaela Steytler

Priya Singh

Professor David McQuiod-Mason

Tamanda Kamwendo

Meshandren Naidoo

Dr Sheetal Soni

Victoria Balogun

Suhayfa Bhamjee

Ntokozo Mnyandu

Dr Freddy Mnyongani

S Pillay

B Townsend

WM Botes

JA Singh

COVID-19

Gene editing and genomics research

Reproduction

Health research

Medical malpractice

Scientific freedom

INSPIRING GREATNESS

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