The applicant was a Ukrainian national who was serving his sentence in a prison due to his conviction on murder; his detention started in April 1999. Before his conviction, he had been recognized as invalid due to his spine disease. He lodged his claim before the European Court of Human Rights (the ECHR) alleging that …Read more

The patient filed a case against the National Ministry of Health and the health insurance company “Solidaridad Obra Social Bancaria Argentina” to obtain access to medication for an oncology treatment. The First Instance Court [Juzgado de Garantías N° 3 de Lomas de Zamora, Provincia de Buenos Aires] dismissed the claim. Then the plaintiff brought the case …Read more

After suffering from a heart attack, the petitioner had sought treatment at a government hospital. Taking into consideration his critical condition and the length of time that it was expected it would take for him to receive treatment at that hospital, the doctors recommended that the petitioner seek treatment at a private hospital immediately. Thereafter, …Read more

The appellant, a woman suffering from multiple sclerosis, brought a claim against New Zealand’s Ministry of Health for discrimination contrary to s. 123(2) of the Human Rights Act, 1993. She claimed that if her disability had been caused by accident rather than illness, she would have received significantly greater disability benefits from the government under …Read more

Herceptin was a drug used to treat an aggressive form of breast cancer called Her2, and it cost roughly $68000 to $70000 for a 12 month course.  The first defendant, the Pharmaceutical Management Agency (Pharmac), was responsible for determining which pharmaceutical treatments would wholly or partially be subsidised by District Health Boards (DHBs). From 2001, …Read more

The petitioners were pastoralists and communal landowners in the Baringo District in Rift Valley Province, Kenya. The petitioners alleged that the respondents (the Attorney-General, the Minister for Environmental and Natural Resources, the National Environment Management Authority, and the County Council of Baringo) were liable for violating their rights to life (under Section 71 of the …Read more

The applicant, a Ugandan national, was HIV positive and claimed that if the United Kingdom forced her to return to Uganda then she would not have sufficient access to medical treatment for her condition. She claimed that this result would violate her rights under Articles 3 (prohibiting torture and inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment) …Read more

This report addresses the admissibility of a petition that alleged the United States failed to fulfill its obligations under the American Declaration on the Rights and Duties of Man (the Declaration). Petitioners included the Legal Aid Society and the International Human Rights Clinic at Washington College of Law. Petitioners alleged the United States violated the …Read more

The Plaintiff, T.D.Z., complained that the Bulgarian Ministry of Health failed to carry out the necessary procurement procedure for Zoladex, a cancer medication, for the period of 1 January 2004 to 1 March 2005. During this period, the plaintiff, a high-risk cancer patient, was essentially deprived of a key part of her treatment. As a …Read more

The Plaintiffs were the owners of the patented cancer-drug Erlotinib. Erlotinib is a Quinazolin derivative and destroys some types of cancer cells with little secondary effects. The Defendant announced that it was going to sell a generic version of Erlotinib in India and in foreign markets. The Plaintiffs sought a permanent injunction to stop the …Read more

Residents of the Matanza-Riachulo river basin brought a class action against the National State, the Province of Buenos Aires, and the city of Buenos Aires, as well as a number of businesses, for injuries resulting from pollution of the area. A lengthy information collecting process began in 2006. The Supreme Court of Argentina found that …Read more

The applicant was a Russian national who had been suspected of instigating a murder and arrested. He was released on bail a year after his arrest. After his release, the media reported that he was a criminal. Three months later, the applicant was convicted of the charge and sentenced to 8 years of imprisonment and …Read more

The applicant was a Russian and a Dutch National who was arrested on the suspicion of committing serious offense at the order of the district Court. He had appealed on the order of detention and the order was upheld on appeal on the ground that it was lawful and justified. The applicant was then charged …Read more

The applicant, Sergey Solomakhin, visited Donetsk City Hospital on November 23rd, 1998. There, he was diagnosed with an acute respiratory disease and prescribed out-patient treatment. On his next visit, the hospital conducted a diphtheria vaccine reaction test, and he did not react to the diphtheria antigens. On November 28th, 1998, he was vaccinated against diphtheria. …Read more

The petitioner, who worked as a Head Constable in Tamil Nadu, filed a case against the Secretary to the Government, Health and Family Welfare Department, Tamil Nadu and others, for rejecting his request for reimbursement under the Tamil Nadu Government Employees’ Health Fund Scheme. The petitioner requested such reimbursement for an angioplasty he underwent on November …Read more

This case concerned whether there was unlawful discrimination under New Zealand’s Human Rights Act (1993) (“HRA”), where legislation provided financial support for a disability arising from an accident, but not for a disability arising from a degenerative process or the manifestation of a disease. Ms. Trevethicks (Plaintiff) suffered from multiple sclerosis. She could only drive …Read more

The Appellant, a former Member of Parliament, filed a writ petition in the High Court of Bangladesh against the Government and other public authorities for their failure to comply with the Environment Conservation Act 1995 and the Environment Conservation Rules 1997. The petition alleged that there was widespread arsenic contamination in tube wells across the …Read more

The author, an elderly Canadian national in poor health, alleged that citizenship revocation proceedings against him violated his rights under articles 6, 7, 9, 14, and 17 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (the “Covenant”). The author was a Polish national who came to Canada in 1946 under a government order where …Read more

Mr. Khudobin, a Russian national, filed an application against the Russian Government for allegedly violating several articles of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (“the Convention”). The applicant was arrested after he was caught supplying heroin to an undercover police agent. He was placed in custody during pre-trial investigations and …Read more

The Canadian Parliament enacted the Tobacco Act (the Act) and the Tobacco Products Information Regulations (the Regulations) in response to the decision of the Court in RJR-Macdonald Inc. v. Canada (Attorney General) [1994] 1 S.C.R. 311, which struck down a previous version of the Act. The new legislation permitted information and brand-preference advertising but prohibited …Read more

A group of employees brought an action in negligence for damages against their employer, Chemical & Insulating Co, for exposure to asbestos in the course of their employment. The employees had been negligently exposed to asbestos and had as a consequence developed pleural plaques. This was the thickening of a layer of fibers on the …Read more

Argentina’s Human Rights Ombudsman brought a claim against the National Government and the Province of Chaco to force Respondents to take the necessary measures to improve the deleterious living conditions of an indigenous community in Chaco that amounted to circumstances of extreme emergency. The Ombudsman claimed that the community lacked fundamental and basic necessities as …Read more

The State of Espírito Santo filed an extraordinary appeal against the decision of the Court of Justice of Espírito Santo. The Court of Justice found that the State was responsible for providing all medicine and medical assistance required for the treatment of an individual’s serious disease, including the drug Viagra. The State argued that the …Read more

The State of Pernambuco filed an interlocutory appeal against the Court of Justice of Pernambuco’s decision, refusing to admit an extraordinary appeal. The Court of Justice of Pernambuco found that the State was responsible for providing medication and health services to a needy individual suffering from chronic disease. The State argued that the constitutional obligation …Read more

This case has been affirmed on appeal to the Supreme Court of Cassation. The Plaintiff was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1998. As part of her treatment, she was prescribed hormone medication and received a mastectomy. At one point, she was prescribed Zoladex, which which causes temporary cessation of ovarian function. . Although prescribed this medication, …Read more

Applicant, a Croatian prisoner, alleged that the prison authorities violated her rights under Article 3 of the Convention because she was not provided with adequate medical treatment and necessary medical check-ups for her illness (chronic hepatitis), nor did she receive an adequate diet or sufficient opportunity to take necessary rest. Consequently, she lost control over …Read more

In 2002, Jose Maria was diagnosed with cancerous enlargements and was admitted to the Virgen de las Nievas Hospital, where he was treated with four cycles of chemotherapy and radiotherapy. One year later, he needed a surgery that public health services were unable to provide. As such, he went to the Teknon Clinic of Barcelona …Read more

The applicant, a Russian national, filed several European Convention on Human Rights Article 3 violations (inhuman or degrading treatment) during his prison term. He claimed that his serious medical state (ischaemic heart disease, exertional angina, hypertension, myopia and chronic bronchitis) was not treated appropriately, that he was beaten by investigating officers and cellmates (alleging broken …Read more

The four applicants alleged that pollution levels near their homes violated their right to respect for their private and family life under Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights (“Convention”). All the applicants lived within a “sanitary security zone” around a local steel plant and were exposed to concentrations of dangerous substances above …Read more