Abstract
Based on an examination of legislation, jurisprudence and doctrine, the usual path of requests for medicines in the Sistema Único de Saúde (Unified Health System) is analyzed, with a focus on requests falling outside the Relação Nacional de Medicamentos Essenciais (National List of Essential Medicines). The usual approach, where the only solution to a negative response is the filing of lawsuits, overloads the system, increasing complexity and causing iniquities. In this context, the present article aims to rethink this approach through non-judicial mechanisms of conflict resolution. Based on the premise that judicialization is neither born nor ends in the judiciary, measures to “de-judicialize” health are considered: the adoption of mediation chambers outside the protocols of the Unified Health System and prior to judicial demands; the reinforcement of interinstitutional dialogue between entities such as the Defensoria Pública (Public Defender’s Office), the Ministério Público (Public Prosecutor’s Office), the Secretaria de Saúde e Núcleos de Apoio Técnico dos tribunais (Health Department) and the Núcleos de Apoio Técnico (Technical Support Centers) of the Courts; and the expansion of non-judicial channels, facilitating access, reducing non-treatment expenditure, and improving public health.
Judiciary; Public health; Judiacialization of health; Health care evaluation mechanisms