UNDER THE MICROSCOPE Medical Negligence There’s a story that appeared in today’s papers that claims for medical negligence against the state have more than tripled over the past four years, rising to a staggering R104.5bn. In 2018/2019, provincial departments paid out R1.9bn to successful claimants, equivalent to 1% of SA’s consolidated health budget of R208.8bn. What could really be behind this? Professor Sylvester Chima Associate Professor and Head at the Programme of Bio and Research Ethics and Medical Law at the University of KwaZulu-Natal