Individual Health Care Litigation in Brazil through a Different Lens: Strengthening Health Technology Assessment and New Models of Health Care Governance.

This article investigates policy and bureaucracy changes provoked by individual litigation for health care rights in Brazil, especially the one regarding access to medicines, looking at the effects it produced in relation to health technology assessment (HTA) and health care governance. The article first contextualizes the social, legal, and political conditions for the development of individual litigation for health care rights in Brazil. Then it points out the changes brought about by this litigation model and discusses their potential to contribute to efficiency and fairness in the health care system by the improvement of the HTA decision-making process and health care governance.

[Conflicts and impasses in the judicialization of the supply of medicines: circuit court rulings on claims brought against the State of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in 2005]. / Conflitos e impasses da judicialização na obtenção de medicamentos: as decisões de 1 feminine instância nas ações individuais contra o Estado do Rio de Janeiro, Brasil, em 2005.

Based on an analysis of individual claims for provision of medicines brought by users of the Unified National Health System (SUS) against the State of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in the year 2005, this study aims to discuss the action and behavior of the court system in ruling on these suits. The study adopted a semi-qualitative exploratory documental research design, analyzing key aspects related to the claims, such as type of medication claimed by the plaintiff, wording of the court rulings, and the key elements used by judges in trying the cases. According to the analysis of the lawsuits and the concepts of judicialization and official standardization of medicines, the study concludes that when ruling on the provision of medicines, the court system grants the claims as submitted without considering the standardization of medicines adopted by the Ministry of Health, thus exercising excessive court intervention in health policy.

Conflitos e impasses da judicialização na obtenção de medicamentos: as decisões de 1ª instância nas ações individuais contra o Estado do Rio de Janeiro, Brasil, em 2005 / Conflicts and impasses in the judicialization of the supply of medicines: circuit court rulings on claims brought against the State of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in 2005

Partindo-se de uma análise das ações judiciais individuais para o fornecimento de medicamentos propostas por usuários do Sistema Único de Saúde (SUS) contra o Estado do Rio de Janeiro, Brasil, no ano de 2005, este estudo tem como objetivo discutir a atuação e o comportamento do Poder Judiciário no julgamento dos referidos processos judiciais. O estudo corresponde a uma pesquisa documental exploratória, de caráter quali-quantitativo, na qual foram analisados alguns aspectos relacionados às ações judiciais, tais como, o tipo de medicamento pleiteado, o teor das decisões proferidas e os fundamentos mais freqüentes utilizados pelos magistrados no julgamento das ações. Com base no resultado da análise das ações, do conceito de judicialização e da padronização oficial em matéria de medicamentos, concluiu-se que, ao decidir sobre o fornecimento de medicamentos, o Poder Judiciário concede os pedidos formulados sem considerar a padronização de medicamentos adotada pelo Ministério da Saúde, exercendo assim uma excessiva intervenção na política de saúde.

Based on an analysis of individual claims for provision of medicines brought by users of the Unified National Health System (SUS) against the State of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in the year 2005, this study aims to discuss the action and behavior of the court system in ruling on these suits. The study adopted a semi-qualitative exploratory documental research design, analyzing key aspects related to the claims, such as type of medication claimed by the plaintiff, wording of the court rulings, and the key elements used by judges in trying the cases. According to the analysis of the lawsuits and the concepts of judicialization and official standardization of medicines, the study concludes that when ruling on the provision of medicines, the court system grants the claims as submitted without considering the standardization of medicines adopted by the Ministry of Health, thus exercising excessive court intervention in health policy.