On June 4, 1982 M.J.R. , a minor, accused of aggravated murder, was declared unpunishable by law by the National Criminal Examining Court of First Instance number 16, which determined he had to remain in hospital as a safety measure. On July 11, 1983, the advisor on minors filed a process of disability to the …Read more

The claimant brought an amparo action against Resolution 266/007, which awarded a contract for “Provision of Antiretroviral Medications” to a bidder offering 80% generic products, arguing that the Resolution violated the claimant’s right to health. The lower court rejected the protection action, and the claimant appealed the decision, submitting copious amounts of documents and evidence …Read more

Please note that only portions of the original judgment have been translated into English. This summary is primarily written from those portions. The Federal District legislature approved reforms to the Criminal Code of the Federal District in which it decriminalized and legalized abortion performed during the first 12 weeks of gestation. It also amended the …Read more

R received long-term disability benefits from an insurer, Maritime Life (“ML”). Pursuant to the terms of that insurance policy, ML had the right to commission an independent medical examination (“IME”) of R. ML retained the services of W to complete an IME on R. Following completion of the IME, W sent a formal written report …Read more

Residents of the Matanza-Riachulo river basin brought a class action against the National State, the Province of Buenos Aires, and the city of Buenos Aires, as well as a number of businesses, for injuries resulting from pollution of the area. A lengthy information collecting process began in 2006. The Supreme Court of Argentina found that …Read more

This appeal concerns whether a doctor owes a tort law duty of care to a future child subsequently born of the doctor’s patient. Dr. Ramji prescribed Accutane to Dawn Paxton, mother of the plaintiff, Jamie Paxton, on the understanding that Dawn would not become pregnant while taking the drug. Due to her husband’s failed vasectomy, …Read more

The Respondents, doctors who performed second-trimester abortions, brought suit challenging the constitutionality of the federal Partial Birth Abortion Ban Act of 2003 (the Act). The Act banned second trimester abortions using the “intact Dilation & Extraction” (intact D&E) method in which the doctor removed the fetus intact, or largely intact, rather than breaking the fetus …Read more

The Appellant, Panetti, was convicted of capital murder in a Texas state court and sentenced to death. After the execution date was set, Panetti brought proceedings claiming that he was incompetent to be executed. The federal district court stayed Panetti’s execution in order to allow the state courts to adjudicate Panetti’s claim of mental incompetence. …Read more

The author, an elderly Canadian national in poor health, alleged that citizenship revocation proceedings against him violated his rights under articles 6, 7, 9, 14, and 17 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (the “Covenant”). The author was a Polish national who came to Canada in 1946 under a government order where …Read more

The Canadian Parliament enacted the Tobacco Act (the Act) and the Tobacco Products Information Regulations (the Regulations) in response to the decision of the Court in RJR-Macdonald Inc. v. Canada (Attorney General) [1994] 1 S.C.R. 311, which struck down a previous version of the Act. The new legislation permitted information and brand-preference advertising but prohibited …Read more

Argentina’s Human Rights Ombudsman brought a claim against the National Government and the Province of Chaco to force Respondents to take the necessary measures to improve the deleterious living conditions of an indigenous community in Chaco that amounted to circumstances of extreme emergency. The Ombudsman claimed that the community lacked fundamental and basic necessities as …Read more

The plaintiff worked as the Senior Administrative Officer of the Municipal Office of Ocuri. When she became pregnant, she informed the Mayor in order to receive a prenatal allowance. The mother received the subsidy for only one of the two months to which she was entitled and she did not received any salary during that …Read more

The Municipality of Caxias do Sul brought an interlocutory appeal against the Court of Justice of Rio Grande do Sul’s decision, refusing to admit an extraordinary appeal. The Court of Justice found that the federal, state and municipal governments possessed joint liability, stemming from their duty to provide free pharmaceuticals for the treatment of serious …Read more

The Public Prosecutor’s Office of the State of Rio Grande do Sul filed an extraordinary appeal against the decision of the Rio Grande do Sul’s Court of Justice. The Court of Justice found that the Public Prosecutor was not entitled to bring an action on the behalf of an individual, because any individual may bring …Read more

The Public Prosecutor’s Office of Santa Catarina filed a public action to compel the State of Santa Catarina to provide pharmaceuticals to a needy individual, for the treatment of his hepatitis B and C. The Court of Justice found that the Public Prosecutor’s filing of the action had been illegitimate. The Public Prosecutor then filed …Read more

The State of Espírito Santo filed an extraordinary appeal against the decision of the Court of Justice of Espírito Santo. The Court of Justice found that the State was responsible for providing all medicine and medical assistance required for the treatment of an individual’s serious disease, including the drug Viagra. The State argued that the …Read more

The State of Pernambuco filed an interlocutory appeal against the Court of Justice of Pernambuco’s decision, refusing to admit an extraordinary appeal. The Court of Justice of Pernambuco found that the State was responsible for providing medication and health services to a needy individual suffering from chronic disease. The State argued that the constitutional obligation …Read more

The Court of Justice found that the State of Rio Grande do Norte had the obligation of providing high-cost medication, free of charge, to an indigent individual suffering from melanoma. The Court of Rio Grande do Norte had previously dismissed an interlocutory appeal brought by the state. The State of Rio Grande do Norte filed an extraordinary …Read more

The Public Prosecutor’s Office of the State of Rio Grande do Sul filed an extraordinary appeal against the decision of the Rio Grande do Sul’s Court of Justice. The Court of Justice found that the Public Prosecutor was not entitled to bring an action on the behalf of an individual, because any individual may bring …Read more

A Chief of Police contracted Hepatitis C while intervening in the attempted suicide of a prisoner. The the Court of Justice of São Paulo held that the state and its health system were responsible for providing him, an individual in financial need, with medications to treat his Hepatitis C. The State of São Paulo filed an extraordinary …Read more

The petitioner brought an tutela action (appeal for legal protection) against SALUDVIDA E.P.S., a health insurance company, for violation of her right to surgical abortion, seeking legal protection of her right to psychological and physical integrity and permission to have an abortion. The petitioner claimed that during the fifth month of her pregnancy, her fetus had …Read more

On December 13, 1987, Laura Susana Albán-Cornejo was admitted to a private health institution from expressed symptoms of bacterial meningitis. On December 17, 1987, Albán-Cornejo suffered severe pain for which the resident physician prescribed a 10 mg. dose of morphine. The next day, while under medical treatment, Albán-Cornejo died. The parents, who were with their …Read more

Paulina del Carmen Ramírez Jacinto, a minor child, filed a complaint against the United Mexican States for violating her human rights of when she allegedly became pregnant as a result of a rape when she was fourteen years old and was prevented by the state authorities from exercising her right to terminate that pregnancy as …Read more

Appellant alleged she suffered a work-related injury resulting from her exposure to the toxic chemical Cyclohexanone causing dysphonia which left her virtually unable to speak for nine months and unable to work. Banco de Seguros del Estado (state insurance company) reviewed her case and found that she was not suffering from an occupational health disease …Read more

A minor diagnosed with progressive muscular dystrophy was denied access to a special Municipal transportation service called the ATENDE program because he was not yet using a wheelchair. The ATENDE program was instituted to meet the needs of handicapped people who could not otherwise access common public transportation. The Health Department of Sao Paulo, on …Read more

The plaintiff’s mother filed a guarantee of protection of individual constitutional rights (amparo protection) against the National State for the discriminatory treatment of a Bolivian girl with a disability. The girl was born in Bolivia and migrated to Argentina. She requested a pension from the National State because of her disability. The National Social Security …Read more

Botros was a specialist in psychiatry and sleep medicine. Three patients complained to the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario (“the CPSO”) that Botros improperly diagnosed and treated them and that his communications were rude and unprofessional. It was also alleged that Botros withheld information and patient data from the successor physician. The Inquiries, …Read more

Abigail Alliance for Better Access to Developmental Drugs (the Alliance) was an organization that advocated for an expanded access for terminally ill patients of experimental drugs that weren’t yet approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), due to the fact that the drug approval process required clinical trials of three to four phases to …Read more

The state of Oregon legalized a physician-assisted suicide law. This law exempts state-licensed physicians who “dispense or prescribe a lethal dose of drugs upon the request of a terminally ill patient” from civil or criminal liability. The law required that the patient must have a diagnosis of an incurable and irreversible disease that reasonably will cause …Read more