The appellant Ann Rogers, suffered from type HER2 breast cancer, which was in its early stages. She had a poor prognosis of only a 25% chance of remaining free of breast cancer and a 43% chance of being alive at ten years. Herceptin was licensed by the European Medicines Agency (EMEA) for treatment of only …Read more

The State of Rio Grande do Sul filed an extraordinary appeal against the decision of the lower court, which found the State was responsible for providing medication free of charge, to an individual with HIV who could no longer afford the medications. The State argued that it was not responsible for the provision of free …Read more

This case was a reference for a preliminary ruling, concerning the interpretation of Articles 48-50 of the Treaty establishing the European Community, as well as Article 22 of Council Regulation 1408/71 on the application of social security schemes to employed persons, self-employed persons and members of their families moving within the Community. The reference arose …Read more

Section 15 of the Health Insurance Act (HEIA) and s. 11 of the Hospital Insurance Act (HOIA) prohibited Quebec residents from taking out private health insurance for services covered by Quebec’s public health care plan. The two Appellants, Jacques Chaoulli and George Zeliotis, contested the validity of this prohibition.  They alleged that these prohibitions deprived …Read more

The decision addressed three petitions with similar facts. In all three cases, the petitioners were diagnosed with cancer and prescribed a medication not included in the health services basket available under the national health care services (which was prohibitively expensive to purchase individually). By the time two of the petitions came to the Court, however, …Read more

The Health (Amendment) (No.2) Bill of 2004 was referred to the Supreme Court for review. Primarily the Supreme Court was asked to analyse the constitutional validity of the bill. Amendment to Section 53 of the Act imposed certain charges mostly on elderly people with limited means for in-patient treatment by public health services. Further, the …Read more

Applicants filed a complaint with the European Court of Human Rights alleging that the Moldovan government’s inadequate financing of hemodialysis treatments violated their right to life, caused them significant pain and suffering, and negatively affected their families’ lives. Applicants were a group of patients suffering from liver failure and receiving hemodialysis treatments. They alleged that …Read more

The State of Mato Grosso filed an extraordinary appeal against the decision of the Court of Justice of Mato Grosso. The Court of Justice found that the State was responsible for providing free medication for the treatment of HIV/AIDS to a needy individual, even though the medication was not included in the list of medication …Read more

The National Commission on Benefits of the National Health Treasury (CNS) provided free medical insurance for the elderly. Alejandro Cuba Plaza, a beneficiary of CNS, was diagnosed with “terminal chronic kidney failure” and treated with ongoing hemodialysis at Obrero Hospital. After 52 weeks of treatment, CNS ordered the Director of Obrero Hospital to transfer Plaza …Read more

The petitioner filed a writ of amparo (appeal for legal protection) against the Ministry of Health of Peru. She sought free administration of comprehensive medical treatment for HIV, including both the continuous delivery of necessary medicines and the performance of periodic CD4 cell count and viral load tests upon medical indication and/or the patient’s urgent …Read more