Judicialization of health: profile of demands for oncological medicines in a state in the central region of Brazil

Autor: Leila Abou Salha, Flávia Costa Reis, Roberta Moreira Gonçalves, Jordão Horácio da Silva Lima, Nádia Abou Salha, Roney Pereira Pinto, José Elmo de Menezes, Eduardo Perez Oliveira, Pedro Lopes Ferreira, Maria Alves Barbosa
Jazyk: angličtina
Rok vydání: 2022
Předmět:
Zdroj: International Journal for Equity in Health, Vol 21, Iss 1, Pp 1-15 (2022)
Druh dokumentu: article
ISSN: 1475-9276
DOI: 10.1186/s12939-022-01704-6
Popis: Abstract Background The significant increase in access to oncological medicines through court cases suggests that constitutional guarantees of integral and universal care in the Brazilian public health system are uncertain. Methods A retrospective observational study was conducted to analyze data from lawsuits requesting oncological medicines from 2014 to 2020 in the State of Goiás, Brazil, in state and federal courts. Sociodemographic, medical, and legal variables were statistically examined using descriptive, association, and correlation methods. Results Women brought more than half (54%) of the 301 processes analyzed. The most frequent age group was over 55 years, with income below 3 × the minimum wage (total about USD$600/month), and their cases were promoted through the public minister and public defender’s offices. The most requested medications, not on official public health system lists, were indicated for multiple myeloma and brain cancer. Conclusions Improved quality of life, frequently used as a justification, could be conceptually confused with increased survival. Finally, judicialization itself indicates that individual health needs arise even with properly defined and adequately implemented public policies. These needs should be considered for the adequate provisioning of services by the state to ensure the right to health.
Databáze: Directory of Open Access Journals
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