Peter Mule Muthungu (suing as administrator and Personal representative of thereafter Estate of Jane Mueningui) v. Kenyatta National Hospital
Country: KenyaYear: 2013
Court: High Court at Nairobi
Citation: Civil Suit 364 of 2007
Health Topics: Health information, Medical malpractice
Human Rights: Right of access to information
As the administrator of the deceased’s estate, the plaintiff sought the medical records of the deceased from the defendant hospital. The plaintiff had separately filed a medical negligence suit against the defendant. The plaintiff and his counsel determined that the hospital records, which related to the deceased’s treatment before death, were necessary for the negligence …Read more
Voluntary Health Association of Punjab v. Union of India
Country: IndiaYear: 2013
Court: Supreme Court
Citation: Writ Petition (Civil) No. 349 of 2006
Health Topics: Child and adolescent health, Health care and health services, Health information, Hospitals, Sexual and reproductive health
Human Rights: Freedom from discrimination
The order is about the problem of sex-selective abortion in India. The Court assed the present situation and the various barriers that must be taken into account when States take steps to address this problem by raising awareness of the legal status of the issue. The Parliament has taken steps to prevent sex selective abortion …Read more
Gillberg v. Sweden
Country: SwedenYear: 2012
Court: European Court of Human Rights
Citation: Application No. 41723/06; [2010] ECHR 1676
Health Topics: Health information
Human Rights: Freedom of expression, Right to privacy
The applicant is a 50-year old professor specializing in child and adolescent psychiatry, at the University of Gothenburg. A neuropsychiatry research project, the Gothenburg Study, focusing on Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) in children was carried out from 1977 to 1992 at the University of Gothenburg. The researchers assured “the children’s parents and later to the …Read more
NASA v. Nelson
Country: United StatesYear: 2011
Court: Supreme Court
Citation: 131 S.Ct. 746 (2011)
Health Topics: Controlled substances, Health information
Human Rights: Right to due process/fair trial, Right to liberty and security of person, Right to privacy
This case involved a challenge to background checks for government jobs on the basis of constitutional privacy. Nelson and twenty-seven other federal contract employees, working for NASA at a government laboratory at the California Institute of Technology, claimed that two elements of a standard employment background investigation violated their constitutional rights: a questionnaire that asked …Read more
Sorrell v. IMS Health
Country: United StatesYear: 2011
Court: Supreme Court
Citation: 131 S.Ct. 2653 (2011)
Health Topics: Health information, Medicines
Human Rights: Freedom of expression, Right of access to information, Right to privacy
Pharmacies, “as a matter of business routine and federal law, receive prescriber-identifying information when processing prescriptions.” This “[k]nowledge of a physician’s prescription practices—called prescriber-identifying information,’” enables marketers representing pharmaceutical drug manufacturers (Detailers) to better “ascertain which doctors are likely to be interested in a particular drug and how best to present a particular sales message.” …Read more
Amparo Constitucional promovido por el Abog. Marcos Peroni Clifton bajo patrocinio del Aog. Guillermo Peroni, en representación de Philip Morris Paraguay S.A.
Country: ParaguayYear: 2010
Court: Supreme Court of Paraguay (Constitutional Chamber)
Citation: Corte Suprema [Supreme Court], Sala Constitucional, 18 octubre 2010, Sentencia No. 776 (2010)(Para.).
Health Topics: Controlled substances, Environmental health, Tobacco
Human Rights: Right to health
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
Seaton v. Mayberg
Country: United StatesYear: 2010
Court: 9th Circuit Court of Appeal
Citation: 610 F.3d 530 (2010)
Health Topics: Health information, Mental health, Prisons
Human Rights: Right to due process/fair trial, Right to privacy
The Appellant, Seaton, an inmate, brought suit against the director of the California Department of Mental Health, the administrator of a state hospital, and two psychologists, alleging that they violated his constitutional right to privacy when they examined and communicated their opinions about his medical records to the district attorney’s office in the period before …Read more
Tabacalera del Este S.A., et al. v. Poder Ejecutivo s/Amparo Constitucional
Country: ParaguayYear: 2010
Court: Supreme Court of Paraguay (Constitutional Chamber)
Citation: Corte Suprema [Supreme Court], Sala Constitucional, 18 octubre 2010, Sentencia No. 754 (2010)(Para.).Corte Suprema [Supreme Court], Sala Constitucional, 18 octubre 2010, Sentencia No. 754 (2010)(Para.).Corte Suprema [Supreme Court], Sala Constitucional, 18 octubre 2010, Sentencia No. 754 (2010)(Para.).
Health Topics: Controlled substances, Environmental health, Tobacco
Human Rights: Freedom of expression, Right of access to information, Right to a clean environment, Right to health
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
K.H. and Others v. Slovakia
Country: SlovakiaYear: 2009
Court: European Court of Human Rights
Citation: App. No. 32881/04, 49 Eur. Ct. H.R. 34 (2009).
Health Topics: Health care and health services, Health information, Health systems and financing, Hospitals, Informed consent, Medical malpractice, Poverty, Sexual and reproductive health
Human Rights: Right of access to information, Right to due process/fair trial, Right to family life
The eight applicants were women of Roma ethnicity, who suspected that they had been sterilized during caesarian section deliveries at two different hospitals. The applicants obtained legal representation, who attempted to examine and obtain copies of their medical records. These requests were denied by the hospitals. The applicants then brought actions against the hospitals in …Read more
Unión Tabacalera del Paraguay, et al. s/ Amparo Constitucional
Country: ParaguayYear: 2009
Court: Supreme Court of Paraguay (Constitutional Chamber)
Citation: Corte Suprema [Supreme Court], Sala Constitucional, 6 octubre 2006, Sentencia No. 916 (2009)(Para.).
Health Topics: Controlled substances, Health information, Tobacco
Human Rights: Freedom of expression, Right of access to information
Petitioner (a consortium of tobacco companies) sought to strike down Resolution N°298 of the Ministry of Public Health SG No. 298, which established stricter and more compelling warning requirements for cigarrette boxes and labels. The consortium alleged the Resolution (of administrative decree status –i.e, infra-legal) had been issued in violation of a hierarchically superior norm, …Read more