25-year-old Petitioner brought a legal protection action before the Municipal Court of Santa Rosa de Osos against Coomeva EPS for refusing to cover the labiaplasty surgery prescribed by her doctor to treat her condition, labia minora hypertrophy.  Petitioner was unable to fully cover the procedure and therefore, claimed that the denial of coverage constituted a …Read more

The applicant, a Colombian woman, tutela action (appeal for legal protection) on behalf of her daughter against EPS Coomeva, a health care provider in Colombia. The child was diagnosed with cognitive disabilities, which required, according to the Fundación Integrar de Medellín, an institution specialized in the care of patients, that the child receive special education …Read more

Petitioner, the Paraguayan subsidiary of Philip Morris, filed a Writ of Amparo challenging the constitutionality of two administrative decrees (i.e., regulations emanated from the Executive Branch) that regulated and implemented Articles 8 and 11 of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), and thus provided for stronger warning/labeling requirements than those of the law …Read more

Petitioners were a consortium of tobacco companies that filed a Writ of Amparo challenging the constitutionality of two administrative decrees (i.e., regulations emanated from the Executive Branch) that regulated and implemented Articles 8 (Protection from exposure to tobacco smoke) and 11 (Packaging and labelling of tobacco products) of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control …Read more

Indigenous community Xákmok Kásek brought an action against the government of Paraguay before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights for failure to meet its international responsibility of timely granting the community members’ request in 1990 for a guarantee of their right to their ancestral lands. Because the government had failed to process their request, the …Read more

This case deals with a number of petitions lodged against Peru alleging a violation of the rights to humane treatment, personal liberty, fair trial, privacy and judicial protection enshrined in Articles 5 (Right to humane treatment), 7 (Right to personal liberty), 8 (Right to a fair trial), 9 (Freedom from ex post facto laws), 11 …Read more

The appellant suffers from metastatic kidney cancer and was previously being treated with SORAFENIB. This treatment failed, and his treating physicians requested the National Resource Foundation (Fondo Nacional de Recursos, hereinafter FNR) to provide the patient with the drug SUNITINIB. The treating physician cited that this was the only treatment that had the potential to improve …Read more

Aranzazu Meneses de Jiménez, a General Service Operator at the Maria Inmaculada Hospital, filed a petition against the Republic of Colombia alleging a violation of article 4 (right to life), article 5 (right to humane treatment), and article 25 (right to judicial protection) of the American Convention on Human Rights and Articles 1, 2, 6 …Read more

The Petitioner, Lawrence Amaechi Eneh, was a native and citizen of Nigeria. He had contracted HIV while working in a nursing home in the United States. He was living with HIV-related illness, Capsis Sarcoma and Valley Fever, a disease of the lungs, at the time of the proceedings. The Petitioner was convicted for the sale …Read more

The plaintiff, Cesar Alejandro Baldivieso, felt sick and so he went to a public hospital were doctors found that he had ingested capsules containing cocaine. The doctors passed along this information to police officers working at the hospital. As a result of this disclosure, Baldivieso was prosecuted and found guilty of drug trafficking by the Federal …Read more

On 26 March 2009, the IACmHR submitted to the IACtHR a lawsuit against Brazil, which originated in a petition filed on 7 August 1995 by the Center for Justice and International Law (CEJIL) and Human Rights Watch/Americas. The underlying claims concerned Brazil’s alleged responsibility for the arbitrary detention, torture and forced disappearance of 70 people, …Read more

This case was an appeal of a constitutional protection (amparo) action before the Constitutional Court filed by the Public Defender of Human Rights, acting on behalf of Maritza Ninnette Cuellar Morales, against the Board of Directors of the Guatemalan Social Security Administration. The Board denied the claimant medical coverage for her spinal condition, based on …Read more

A girl allegedly raped claimed for abortion under the art. 86 (2) of the Criminal Code of Argentina, which excluded women from criminal liability when they have been raped and they were mentally disabled.  The girl had no disabilities. The First Instance Court authorized the abortion and, fifteen minutes later, gave notice to mass media. …Read more

This case discussed the type of approval necessary for a bilateral health agreement between Ecuador and Venezuela, signed by the Executive Branch. Ecuador’s Executive Branch signed an agreement with Venezuela to provide technical assistance, supplies and other equipment for persons with disabilities.  The President’s Secretary filed an inquiry with the Constitutional Court for the Transitional …Read more

This case was an appeal of a constitutional protection (amparo) action before the Constitutional Court filed by the Public Defender of Human Rights, acting on behalf of Luisa Fernanda Morales Tumax, against the Board of Directors of the Guatemalan Institute of Social Security. The patient, a minor, received a kidney transplant in 2000, when she …Read more

This case was an unconstitutionality action brought by the Guatemalan Association of Pharmacists and Chemists et al. challenging the Liberalization of Importation of Medicines Act. The claimants argued that the Act’s elimination of requirements for imported medicines such as expiration dates, instructions in Spanish, and required government testing violated constitutional competition provisions, intellectual property and …Read more

This case was an appeal of a petition for a writ of habeas corpus brought by the claimant, Eusebio Alejandro Soto, against Marcelo Cuellar Crespo, director of the San Juan de Dios Municipal Public Hospital. The claimant brought the petition against the hospital when he was detained there for failure to pay for his treatment …Read more

This case was an appeal of a constitutional protection (amparo) action before the Constitutional Court filed by the Public Defender of Human Rights, acting on behalf of Maria Gabriela Garcia Fernandez, against the Board of Directors of the Guatemalan Social Security Administration. The Board denied the claimant medical coverage for her juvenile diabetes and chronic …Read more

The plaintiffs, a tobacco company, brought an unconstitutionality action before the Court, arguing that the Tobacco Control law, which gave the executive branch the authority to require that tobacco manufacturers use health warnings covering a minimum of 50% of the surface area of cigarette packages, violated the constitutional principles of legal reserve and separation of …Read more

The claimant, the Public Defender for Human Rights, brought a protection action on behalf of Maynor Wilfredo Cardenas Morales against the Guatemalan Institute of Social Security for its failure to provide the patient with the drugs Rapamune and Cellcep, as prescribed for his kidney transplant. The drugs were not included on the Therapeutic Drug Registry, …Read more

In British Columbia (“BC”), the Medical Protections Act (“MPA”) prevents physicians who have opted out of BC’s public health care scheme from charging patients more than the amount charged for services under the public fee schedule. The Cambie Surgeries Corporation (“Cambie”) faced complaints of overbilling patients and “double dipping” – billing both the patient and …Read more

The applicant challenged the decision of the Citizenship and Immigration Canada’s (‘CIC’) to deny her coverage under the Interim Federal Health Program (‘IFHP’) for her medical care, hospitalization, and related expenses. At the time the applicant began seeking medical services, she was illegally in Canada; her temporary resident visa had expired, and she had not …Read more

The Attorney General (AG) of Quebec challenged the constitutionality of sections 8 to 19, 40 to 53, 60, 61 and 68 of Canada’s Assisted Human Reproduction Act (the “Act”) on federalism grounds. Some of these provisions create or relate to prohibitions on human cloning and various aspects of the commercialization of reproductive materials and functions. …Read more

The accused was found not guilty by reason of insanity on a charge of sexual assault with a weapon in 1983. He was subsequently detained in numerous mental health facilities. Before his annual review hearing in 2006 was held, the accused alleged that the centre in which he was detained had violated his constitutional rights …Read more

Mr. Hneihen was found not criminally responsible by reason of mental disorder (NCRMD), in relation to several criminal charges. The trial judge ordered that Mr. Hneihen be detained at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) pending review by the Ontario Review Board (ORB), an independent tribunal that oversees individuals unfit to stand trial …Read more

Jamey Wilkins (hereinafter “the Plaintiff”) filed an excessive force suit against Gaddy (hereinafter “the Defendant”) under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 in violation of the Eighth Amendment of the United States Constitution.  The Plaintiff was a state prisoner in North Carolina when he had asked a correctional officer, the Defendant, for a grievance form, and the …Read more

The National Administration of Drugs, Foods and Medical Devices [ANMAT] fined the Laboratorio Welt S.A and its director to (ARS 20 000) twenty thousands and (ARS 10 000) ten thousands Argentine pesos for violating articles 2 and 19.b of law 16.463 and article 9 from decree 150/92. The laboratory did not comply with resolution 1930/95 …Read more

The plaintiff, an elder woman, filed a guarantee of protection of individual constitutional rights (amparo protection) against Dincros S.A for the cessation of the health coverage that left her with no medical coverage because no other health insurance wanted to provide medical services to her and to order the incorporation to another health insurance company …Read more

The plaintiff’s grandmother filed a guarantee of protection of individual constitutional rights (amparo protection) with First Instance Civil and Commercial Court of Mar del Plata [Juzgado Civil y Comercial n°2 de Mar del Plata] to get health coverage for her grandson from the National Institute for Social Services for Retiree [I.N.S.S.J.Y.P] and the National State, …Read more

The petitioners alleged that more than 400 members of the Punachizag Community had abducted one of the petitioners’ son, Fredy Marcelo Núñez Naranjo, from jail “with the acquiescence of agents of the Ecuadorian State” and his whereabouts remained unknown. Petitioners also claimed that his mother and sister where kidnapped from their home. They alleged that …Read more