TAC wins victory against Minister of Health
The Cape High Court has stopped Mathius Rath from selling his supplements or from conducting unauthorised clinical trials.
The South African Medical Association (SAMA) and the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC)asked that the court interdict Rath, the South African Government, the health minister, her director general, the Medicines Control Council (MCC) and several well known AIDS denialists from conducting clinical trials on those living with HIV, and from advertising Rath's supplements.
The court found that unauthorised clinical trials had taken place. Along with this, one of Rath's products, Vita-Cell contains a scheduled substance, which was not authorised by the MCC. In addition, adequate investigations were not carried out when complaints against these actions were laid.
The TAC and SAMA had also asked that the court order the Minister of Health and her staff to "do their job" properly in investigating the drugs and their sale. The judge decided that these tasks had not been adequately carried out, and he ordered the minister to undertake her duty.
Refering to Manto Tshabalala-Msimang and her director general, the judge said that they had a duty to carry out reasonable measures to prevent the respondents from carrying out unauthorised clinical trials and from advertising Vita-Cell as a treatment for HIV and AIDS. He also ordered that Vita-Cell be submitted to the MCC for verification of its claims.
