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

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. A retrospective observational study was conducted to analyze data from lawsuits requesting oncol...

Full description

Saved in:

Bibliographic Details
Published in:	International journal for equity in health Vol. 21; no. 1; pp. 1 - 112
Main Authors:	Salha, Leila Abou, Reis, Flávia Costa, Gonçalves, Roberta Moreira, Lima, Jordão Horácio da Silva, Salha, Nádia Abou, Pinto, Roney Pereira, de Menezes, José Elmo, Oliveira, Eduardo Perez, Ferreira, Pedro Lopes, Barbosa, Maria Alves
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	English
Published:	London BioMed Central Ltd 17-08-2022 BioMed Central BMC
Subjects:	Antimitotic agents Antineoplastic Agents Cancer Cancer therapies Chemotherapy Constitutional amendments Constitutional courts Dosage and administration Drugs Economic development Endocrine therapy Funding GDP Gross Domestic Product Guarantees Health care expenditures Health care policy Judicialization of health Litigation Medical care Medical economics Medicine Methods Minimum wage Multiple myeloma Observational studies Oncology Palliative care Pharmaceuticals Prevention Provisioning Public health Public policy Quality of life Radiation therapy Utilization Brazil Colombia
Online Access:	Get full text
Tags:	Add Tag No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!

Description
Summary:	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. 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. Women brought more than half (54%) of the 301 processes analyzed. The most frequent age group was over 55 years, with income below 3 x 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. 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.
Bibliography:	ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23 ObjectType-Undefined-3
ISSN:	1475-9276 1475-9276
DOI:	10.1186/s12939-022-01704-6