In 1999, Mr. Wistrand, a Swedish man, obtained an alternative and promising form of rectal cancer treatment in France because this treatment was not yet available in Sweden.  Upon his return in 2000, his local Social Insurance Board denied his request for compensation for his medical costs because the treatment did not occur in Sweden.  …Read more

The claimant, Mr. Oscar Fontes, brought a protection action against the Ministry of Public Health (the “Ministry”) for its failure to provide him with the drug Cetuximab, as prescribed by his doctor for treatment of colon cancer. The drug was not included on the Therapeutic Drug Registry, and the Ministry denied his request. The claimant …Read more

The Flemish Community brought a claim against the Belgian state, challenging Article 21 of the 1967 Royal Decree (Article 21) concerning healthcare professionals. In assessing the matter, the State Board referred two interlocutory questions to the Constitutional Court. The first question was whether Article 21 unconstitutionally infringed on the jurisdiction of the Flemish Community by …Read more

The applicants were two, non-authorized physicians registered with the Saint-Vincent-Sainte-Elisabeth Hospital Center. Non-authorized physicians, unlike authorized physicians, work in private settings and do not fall within the public national healthcare system. The applicants challenged the constitutionality of Article 46 of a 2006 law passed on health provisions, in that it treated authorized and non-authorized doctors …Read more

The applicant pharmaceutical company , which marketed cheaper, generic drugs, brought forward a claim against the “Institut national d’assurance maladie-invalidité” (National Institute for Health and Disability Insurance). The lower court referred a question to the Constitutional Court about whether Article 191 of the law concerning compulsory health insurance and benefits violated the principle of equality, …Read more

This case concerned a constitutional challenge to Articles 1, 10, 23, 84, 91 and 133 of law no.  2009-879 of July 21 2009, Loi portant réforme de l’hôpital et relative aux patients, à la santé et aux territoires (Law reforming hospitals and relating to patients, health and the territories) (the Law) in the Conseil Constitutionnel. …Read more

The appellant, a beneficiary of defendant public health institution Health Service of Castilla-La Mancha (“SESCAM”), received three fertility treatment cycles (two in a private institution and one in a public health institution) with negative results. The appellant then sought new fertility treatments from SESCAM, arguing that she was entitled to funding for three treatments of …Read more

Petitioner Hernán Antonio Barrero Bravo brought action challenging the constitutionality of Law 860 (Reform of the Social Security System law), alleging its violation of articles 48 (principle of progressive realization), 49 (principle of non-retrogression of social rights) and 53 (principle of non-retrogression in the protection given by the previous law) of the Constitution in changing …Read more

The state healthcare institution (“SHI”) appealed the imposition of an administrative fine of 10,000 rubles which had been imposed on it for a violation of Paragraph 3 Article 19.20 of the Code of Administrative Offences of the Russian Federation (“CAO RF”), which prohibited conducting activities in violation of the relevant license (here, licenses related to …Read more

The European Roma Rights Centre (ERRC) brought a complaint alleging that the 2006 and 2008 amendments to Bulgaria’s Social Assistance Act of 1998 (‘the Act’) violated Article 13(1) of the RESC, taken alone or in conjunction with the non-discrimination provisions of Article E. Prior to these amendments, entitlement to social assistance benefits under the Act …Read more