The applicant suffered from a serious bipolar disorder and wished to commit suicide and requested a lethal dose of sodium pentobarbital, which is available only on prescription, from several psychiatrists but was unsuccessful. The applicant then contacted various official bodies seeking permission to obtain the substance from a pharmacy without a prescription. The Federal Office …Read more

The Municipality of Caxias do Sul filed an extraordinary appeal against the decision of the lower court, which had found that the federal, state and municipal governments possessed joint liability to provide medications free of charge, for the treatment of serious disease, to those deemed to be financially needy, in order to abide by the …Read more

Three applicants, two Irish nationals and one Lithuanian national, travelled to the United Kingdom in 2005 to have an abortion, each applicant believing they were not entitled to an abortion in Ireland. The first applicant decided to have an abortion to avoid jeopardizing her chances of reuniting her four previous children who were in foster …Read more

A constitutional amparo (writ of injunctive relief) petition was brought the petitioner on behalf of his minor daughter against the Department Director of the Sexually Transmitted Infections/A.I.D.S. (“STI/AIDS”) Program, alleging violations of his daughter’s rights to life, to health, to “legal certainty,” and to petition, as guaranteed by the Bolivian Constitution. The petitioner’s daughter lived …Read more

The applicant, G.Z. was diagnosed with Gaucher’s disease at the age of three. Gaucher’s disease was a rare disease which can only be successfully treated with the drug Cerezyme. If the disease was not treated, it could result in early death. G.Z’s parents claimed 100% reimbursement of the purchase costs of Cerezyme on G.Z’s behalf. …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

The Health Insurance Institute of Albania partially reimbursed the citizens of Albania for purchase of specific drugs that are included in the annually-published list. This list and the extent of the price coverage for the covered drugs was approved by a decision of the Albanian Council of Ministers (CoM). The Pharmaceuticals Distributors Association of Albania …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

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

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