The Minister of Health, Manuel Pizarro, ruled this Wednesday that it would be unacceptable if a clinical decision were overtaken by political pressure, in response to a question about the case of the Portuguese-Brazilian twins.
On the sidelines of a joint visit with the Minister of Justice to the Magalhães de Lemos Hospital in Porto, Manuel Pizarro was asked whether he would be “surprised if the medical decision were overtaken by political pressure”. unacceptable”.
“The clinical decision must prevail in a healthcare service and has absolute priority over all points of view,” he argued.
Manuel Pizarro was also asked about statements made by former minister Correia de Campos, who said he even had an advisor to deal with the ‘wedges’, saying that “it is necessary to distinguish the relative dimension of things”.
“Of course, in the area of governance, there are many requests from citizens, many complaints and many grievances that need to be dealt with and that are dealt with legitimately in a democratic society,” but he stressed: “This is very different from changing the normal priority. orders for the operation of services”.
The Health Minister said he receives many letters, some sent by other entities, others sent directly to him from people complaining that they have been treated poorly, that they have waited too long to be seen by the National Health Service.
For Manuel Pizarro, these are not requests for favors, but “a normal request for intervention from a member of the government to ensure that the rights of these citizens are respected”, sent to the services to be analyzed.
“The duty of the minister is to ensure that all SNS users are treated in the best possible way. That is why we have taken general policy measures to ensure this,” he stressed.
Manuel Pizarro said that there are complaints that, due to its severity, he refers to judicial authorities and the General Inspectorate of Health Activities (IGAS).
Regarding the ongoing investigation into the case of the Portuguese-Brazilian twins who came to Portugal in 2020 to receive the drug Zolgensma, – one of the most expensive in the world – for spinal muscular atrophy, Manuel Pizarro stated that it is the duty of his ministry is to “contribute with all documentation that can be found at the Ministry of Health”, emphasizing that the entities can provide any clarifications that will allow them to find out what happened in this process.
Regarding his reading of this case, the government official said that he is waiting for the conclusions of the internal audit of the Santa Maria Hospital and the investigation by the Public Prosecutor’s Office and IGAS.
Source: DN
