Lawsuits in health: an integrative review

Abstract

Objective: To analyze the national and international scientific evidence available in the literature on types of judicialization of health lawsuits. Method: Integrative review, which selected primary studies in the PubMed, LILACS, Web of Science and Scopus databases, with the Descriptors: judicial decisions, health’s judicialization, Saúde (in Portuguese), Health, and the keyword: Judicial Action. Results: 30 studies were selected. In Brazil, the majority were legal claims for medicines and the other for medical errors, requests for vaccines, supplies for diabetics, food compounds, surgical procedure, examinations, among others. In international studies, lawsuits were found for medication, benefit coverage and hospitalization for psychiatric treatment. Conclusion: It is evident that the most demanded type of lawsuit was access to the medication at an international level. It is still more noticeable the little discussion on this subject, demonstrating that judicialization of medicines can indicate a reality of Brazil.