Ioniță v. Romania
Country: RomaniaYear: 2017
Court: The European Court of Human Rights
Citation: Application no. 81270/12
Health Topics: Child and adolescent health, Chronic and noncommunicable diseases, Health care and health services, Health information, Hospitals, Informed consent, Medical malpractice
Human Rights: Right to due process/fair trial, Right to life
The applicants’ minor son underwent surgery for the removal of a polyp in a public emergency hospital. The child was transferred to the ICU unit under a staff nurse who had assisted in the surgery. Due to a hemorrhage and a number of failed attempts to resuscitate, the child died. There were contrary reports of …Read more
Lopes De Sousa Fernandes v. Portugal
Country: PortugalYear: 2017
Court: The European Court of Human Rights
Citation: Application no. 56080/13
Health Topics: Chronic and noncommunicable diseases, Health care and health services, Health information, Hospitals, Infectious diseases, Medical malpractice
Human Rights: Right to bodily integrity, Right to health, Right to life
The applicant’s husband underwent a surgery to remove nasal polyps. He suffered from severe headaches and went back to the emergency department. The duty doctor prescribed him some tranquilizer stating it was some psychological problem. As the headaches did not subside, a medical team examined him the next day and found that he was suffering …Read more
Nelson v. Livermore
Country: CanadaYear: 2017
Court: Ontario Court of Appeal
Citation: 2017 ONCA 712
Health Topics: Health care and health services, Informed consent, Mental health, Prisons, Public safety, Violence
Human Rights: Freedom from torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, Right to liberty and security of person
Rodney Nelson sought judicial review of his involuntary admission to a psychiatric hospital under Ontario’s Mental Health Act (“MHA”) and an order for his immediate release due to rights infringements. Nelson had a lengthy history of crimes with many violent offences, including sexual offences against women and children. A psychiatrist completed an application for psychiatric …Read more
Akkoyunlu v. Turkey
Country: TurkeyYear: 2016
Court: European Court of Human Rights
Citation: Akkoyunlu v. Turkey, [2016] EHCE
Health Topics: Disabilities, Health care and health services, Hospitals, Medical malpractice
Human Rights: Freedom from torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, Right to health
In 2001, Mr. Akkoyunlu (the applicant) started his compulsory military service in Turkey. On July 25, 2001, he went to the infirmary of his regiment to complain about severe pain in his left eye. The military doctor was unavailable, so he was given eye drops by another soldier, who had no medical qualifications. He later …Read more
Caleb Orozco v. Attorney General of Belize
Country: BelizeYear: 2016
Court: Supreme Court of Belize
Citation: Claim 668 of 2010
Health Topics: Health care and health services, Health information, HIV/AIDS, Infectious diseases, Mental health, Sexual and reproductive health, Violence
Human Rights: Freedom from discrimination, Freedom of expression, Right to health, Right to privacy
The Claimant, Caleb Orozco, a citizen of Belize was a homosexual male and a health educator. In the Supreme Court of Belize, he challenged the constitutional validity of Section 53 of the Belize Criminal Code to the extent that it criminalized anal sex between two consenting male adults. Section 53 of the Criminal Code stated …Read more
Vasileva v. Bulgaria
Country: BulgariaYear: 2016
Court: The European Court of Human Rights
Citation: Application No. 23796/10
Health Topics: Chronic and noncommunicable diseases, Health care and health services, Health information, Hospitals, Informed consent, Medical malpractice
Human Rights: Right to due process/fair trial, Right to family life, Right to health
The applicant suffered from cancer and underwent mastectomy of her left breast. After two years, she experienced pain in the left side of her chest. After undergoing two bone scintigraphies, a pathological uptake of radioactive tracer was found in her sixth rib. A computerized tomography showed metastasis in the eighth and the ninth rib contrary …Read more
Association for the Defence of Human Rights in Romania-Helsinki Committee on Behalf of Ionel Garcea v. Romania
Country: RomaniaYear: 2015
Court: European Court of Human Rights
Citation: Application No. 2959/11
Health Topics: Chronic and noncommunicable diseases, Health care and health services, Infectious diseases, Informed consent, Medical malpractice, Mental health, Prisons
Human Rights: Freedom from torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, Right to life
The applicant was a Romanian NGO known as the Association for the Defence of Human Rights in Romania-Helsinki Committee (“Association”), representing a deceased party, Ionel Garcea. Garcea was a mentally ill prisoner who died in prison. During his sentence, he made a number of complaints about his treatment, with the Association representing him. In June …Read more
Attorney General, et al. v. Dickson Tapela, et al.
Country: BotswanaYear: 2015
Court: Court of Appeal of the Republic of Botswana at Gaborone
Health Topics: Health care and health services, HIV/AIDS, Infectious diseases, Prisons
Human Rights: Freedom from discrimination, Freedom from torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, Right to health, Right to life
Case 1: Tapela and Piye, two Zimbabwean nationals imprisoned in Botswana, both contracted HIV in prison. They were refused antiretroviral treatment for their condition based on a internal directive issued by the national government to all public medical institutions and personnel on March 26, 2004, indicating that testing, assessment, and treatment with antiretroviral and highly active …Read more
Baby “A” (suing through her mother, E.A.), et al.v. Attorney General, et al.
Country: KenyaYear: 2014
Court: High Court of Kenya at Nairobi, (Constitutional and Human Rights Division)
Citation: Petition No. 266 of 2013
Health Topics: Child and adolescent health, Health care and health services, Health information, Sexual and reproductive health
Human Rights: Freedom from discrimination, Right to acquire nationality
Baby A, was born with both male and female genitalia. The respondent, Kenyatta National Hospital issued E.A (the mother of Baby A) documents used in the process of carrying out genitogram tests, x-rays and scans of the Baby A in which the column indicating the child’s sex was filled in with a question mark. Baby …Read more
H v. Fetal Assessment Centre
Country: South AfricaYear: 2014
Court: Constitutional Court of South Africa
Citation: (CCT 74/14) [2014] ZACC 34
Health Topics: Child and adolescent health, Disabilities, Health care and health services, Health information, Hospitals, Informed consent, Medical malpractice, Sexual and reproductive health
Human Rights: Right to health
The mother of the applicant, who was born in 2008 with Down Syndrome instituted a claim on his behalf for damages against the Fetal Assessment Centre. Her son was born in 2008 with Down syndrome. She claimed that the Centre negligently failed to warn her of the high risk that her child would be born …Read more