Health technology assessment and judicial deference to priority-setting decisions in healthcare: Quasi-experimental analysis of right-to-health litigation in Brazil.

The constitutional right to health in Brazil has entitled patients to litigate against the government-funded national health system (SUS), claiming access to various health treatments including those excluded from the health system's benefits package. Courts have tended to rely on a single medical prescription to judge these cases in favor of individual patients and against the health system. The large volume of cases has had a substantial financial impact on the government's health budget and has created unfairness in accessing healthcare.

Visible Light as an Antimicrobial Strategy for Inactivation of and Biofilms.

The increase of antimicrobial resistance is challenging the scientific community to find solutions to eradicate bacteria, specifically biofilms. Light-Emitting Diodes (LED) represent an alternative way to tackle this problem in the presence of endogenous or exogenous photosensitizers. This work adds to a growing body of research on photodynamic inactivation using visible light against biofilms.

Legal access to medications: a threat to Brazil's public health system?

Background: In Brazil, health is fundamental human right guaranteed by the Constitution of 1988, which created the Brazilian Universal Health System (Sistema Único de Saúde - SUS). The SUS provides medications for outpatient care via policy of pharmaceutical assistance (PA) programmes. Despite the advances in PA policies which include the improvement in access to medications, there has been a significant increase in lawsuits related to health products and services.

Legal suits: pharmaceutical industry strategies to introduce new drugs in the Brazilian public healthcare system.

Objective: To assess the distribution rate of legal suits according to drug (manufacturer), prescribing physician, and attorney filing the lawsuit.

Methods: A descriptive study was carried out to assess the lawsuits in the São Paulo State (Southeastern Brazil) courts registry in 2006, and amounts spent in complying with these lawsuits, and total costs with medication thus resulting.

Results: In 2006, the São Paulo State Administration spent 65 million Brazilian reais in compliance with court decisions to provide medication to approximately 3,600 individuals.

['Judicialization' of public health policy for distribution of medicines].

The supply of medicines in response to court orders or injunctions has become a common practice in the State of São Paulo, Brazil. This 'judicialization' of the health system clashes with basic principles of the Brazilian Unified National Health System (SUS), such as equal opportunity to access health services. The aim of this paper is to analyze the legal action used to obtain medicines through the São Paulo State Health Department, from two main angles: judicialization of public policies and breach of the equity principle.