The PS voted this Wednesday against the demands of the Liberal Initiative (IL) to hear in parliament the former Minister of Health, Marta Temido, the former Secretary of State for Health, António Lacerda Sales, and the son of the President of the Republic Nuno Rebelo de Sousa, in the context of the case of the Portuguese-Brazilian twins who received treatment worth 4 million euros at Santa Maria Hospital in 2020. Chega’s request to hear the parents of the two children was also blocked by socialist deputies, sparking protests from both sides.
“We will not give up on ensuring that the country is enlightened before the election campaign begins”Chega leader André Ventura accused the PS of acting “in an overbearing manner” and using “abuse” to reject these hearings, while “the country is waiting for clarification on this matter,” in order “to to close the matter.” from a political point of view.”
IL President Rui Rocha also responded to the PS’s rejection of his demands, accusing the party of “approving in the Assembly whatever suits it” and rejecting “anything that is inconvenient.”
Speaking to the online newspaper Observador, Socialist deputy Luís Soares, who coordinates the party in the Health Committee, claimed that ‘Parliament controls the government’to try to justify the lead in the auditions.
“That argument is that you cannot summon former rulers. Now the PS has already summoned former rulers to the commission for other matters, namely Sérgio Monteiro and Pires de Lima, when the TAP investigative commission took place and at the same time the PS called these people to the Economic Commission to disrupt the TAP investigative commission”, Rui Rocha recalled. In a reference to early parliamentary elections, the Liberal leader suggested that “there is only one solution to solve this […] and it is on March 10”, which “is to remove the PS from power”.
The two party leaders have also signaled their intention to propose a parliamentary inquiry committee on the subject at the beginning of the next legislature.
Hearing at the Health Committee, following the request of the PS and the protestative request (on a mandatory basis) of IL regarding the alleged favoritism in the treatment of the twins, the current Minister of Health, Manuel Pizarro, refused this Wednesday to to be further developed. the theme. “There are investigations underway, an inspection process by IGAS [Inspeção Geral das Atividades em Saúde] and another opened by the Public Prosecution Service, requiring that my answers take into account the need not to interpret my words as any prerequisite for the inspection process,” the government official said, reiterating that he has no doubt that the treatment of children “it was decided on clinical grounds”.
According to the internal audit report requested by the Board of Directors of the Centro Hospitalar Universitário Lisboa Norte (CHULN), internal controls for admission, treatment and monitoring of treatments for children with spinal muscular atrophy between 2019 and 2023 were respected, with the exception of “referral of two patients for the first neuropediatric consultation”. Manuel Pizarro was questioned several times by the deputies who are part of the commission and emphasized the consequences of his statements for the ongoing investigations, which is why he remained silent.
The president of the Order of Doctors, Carlos Cortes, also refused to comment on the twins’ case during a visit to São Francisco Xavier Hospital on Wednesday, claiming that the institutions’ rules must be respected. “All documents that come into order regarding the case of the twins at Santa Maria Hospital are sent to the Disciplinary Board and at this time – the Disciplinary Board is a court – I cannot and do not want to comment”, he justified. According to the president, “there is a group of institutions – the Public Prosecutor’s Office, the IGAS – General Inspectorate of Health Activities, the Order of Doctors through its disciplinary council – that is evaluating this situation.”
Source: DN
