The Consumer Protection Act: implications for medical practice
Keywords:
consumer protection act
Abstract
The Consumer Protection Act (CPA) 68 of 2008, and the Regulations in terms thereof, became effective on 31 March 2011, and 1 April 2011, respectively. Potentially, the CPA has far-reaching implications for medical practice. Under the CPA, patients could be regarded as consumers, and medical practitioners as suppliers or service providers, depending on the context. Medical practitioners could also be regarded as consumers. However, when they practise in partnerships or incorporated companies, i.e. as juristic persons, and their turnover equals or exceeds R2 million, the CPA would not apply. This article briefly reviews some of the provisions of the CPA that could impact on medical practice.
Section
Ethics CPD Supplement
By submitting manuscripts to SAFP, authors of original articles are assigning copyright to the South African Academy of Family Physicians. Copyright of review articles are assigned to the Publisher, Medpharm Publications (Pty) Ltd, unless otherwise specified. Authors may use their own work after publication without written permission, provided they acknowledge the original source. Individuals and academic institutions may freely copy and distribute articles published in SAFP for educational and research purposes without obtaining permission.
