Litigios por derecho a la salud en tres países de América Latina

Revisión sistemática de la literatura

Bibliographic Data

ID14967666
AuthorsLudovic Reveiz (0000-0003-3186-9174, World Health Organization Regional Office for the Americas, corresponding author), Evelina Chapman (0000-0001-5979-6718, World Health Organization Regional Office for the Americas), Rubén Torres (0009-0009-8591-9617, World Health Organization Regional Office for the Americas), James Fitzgerald (0000-0003-3400-5515, World Health Organization Regional Office for the Americas), James F Fitzgerald, Adriana Mendoza (0000-0001-6775-0349, World Health Organization Regional Office for the Americas), Mónica Bolis (World Health Organization Regional Office for the Americas), Osvaldo Salgado (World Health Organization Regional Office for the Americas)
Year2013
Volume33
Issue3
Pages213-222
Publication date2013-03-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueRevista Panamericana de Salud Pública (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1020-4989 • E-ISSN: 1680-5348
PublisherFapUNIFESP (SciELO) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1590/s1020-49892013000300008
PMID23698141
OpenAlexW2160872866
SCIELO_PIDS1020-49892013000300008
LanguageES
Citations received13
References cited17

OBJECTIVE: Identify and evaluate studies that analyzed characteristics of right-to-health litigation in Brazil, Colombia, and Costa Rica. METHODS: Studies were evaluated that analyzed characteristics of right-to-health litigation identified through a search of PubMed, LILACS, Cochrane Library, and Scirus (April 2012). Two reviewers evaluated the studies. Variables collected were, among others, grounds for litigation, proportion of lawsuits for benefits covered by the health system, and lawsuits on high-cost technologies. RESULTS: Thirty studies were identified (Brazil 19, Colombia 10, and Costa Rica 1). Judgments were frequently in favor of plaintiffs: Colombia (75%-87%), Costa Rica (89.7%), and Brazil (70%-100%). In Colombia, lawsuits were filed for benefits included in the Compulsory Health Plan (range: 41%-69.9%). In Brazil there was considerable variation in the amount of lawsuits between the Exceptional Circumstance Drug Dispensing Program (13%-31%) and basic medicines in the Unified Health System (approximately 50%). Lawsuits on drugs varied as a percentage of all lawsuits (Colombia 11.9%-35.6%, Costa Rica 30.2%, and Brazil 49.6%). A study in Brazil found a statistically significant difference when comparing lawsuits on exceptional drugs versus all other drugs, by social class; and in another study, according to lawsuits from municipalities with better socioeconomic indicators. A concentration of lawsuits on drug prescribing by a limited group of physicians was reported. Prescribing was not always supported by scientific evidence. Another study found that in half of the cases, the cost of legal proceedings was higher than the cost of the services being claimed. CONCLUSIONS: There are similarities in the grounds, nature, and impact of litigation in the context of the countries studied. The studies included show weaknesses of health systems to ensure access to different services as well as in the introduction of new health technologies

Environmental health · Family medicine · Geography · Plaintiff · Political science · Population · Socioeconomic status · Sociology · Demography · Law · Legal processes and jurisprudence · Medical Malpractice and Liability Issues · Medicine · Public Health in Brazil

Tools

Open DOIOpen Access