Conflicts and impasses in the judicialization of the supply of medicines: Circuit court rulings on claims brought against the state of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in 2005

Abstract

Based on an analysis of individual claims for provision of medicines brought by users of the Unified National Health System (SUS) against the State of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in the year 2005, this study aims to discuss the action and behavior of the court system in ruling on these suits. The study adopted a semi-qualitative exploratory documental research design, analyzing key aspects related to the claims, such as type of medication claimed by the plaintiff, wording of the court rulings, and the key elements used by judges in trying the cases. According to the analysis of the lawsuits and the concepts of judicialization and official standardization of medicines, the study concludes that when ruling on the provision of medicines, the court system grants the claims as submitted without considering the standardization of medicines adopted by the Ministry of Health, thus exercising excessive court intervention in health policy.