title: Rational therapeutics: health-related elements in lawsuits demanding medicines.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To characterize the main medical, scientific and health-related procedural elements upon which decisions are made in individual lawsuits demanding medicines that are considered essential to the Court of Justice.
  
  
  METHODS
  Retrospective descriptive study based on 27 cases ruled on by the Court of Appeals in Rio de Janeiro, Southeastern Brazil, in 2006. The original proceedings were solicited from the Central Archive of the Court of Justice of the State of Rio de Janeiro and were photographed and analyzed in full.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Prescriptions and medical certificates were present in 100% of the lawsuits. All prescriptions lacked conformity to legislation. No expert medical reports were added, and only 7.4% of the lawsuits presented complementary examinations. In spite of the scarcity of medical information present in the records, all of the demands were granted.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The admission of judicial demands devoid of clinical and diagnostic substantiation results in managerial and health-related constraints on the health system. Besides creating havoc in standard pharmaceutical services, badly justified medicine demands may compromise rational drug use.
authors: Programa de Pós-Graduação em Saúde Pública, Escola Nacional de Saúde Pública, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Rio de Janeiro, Brasil. jmbrambati@gmail.com
authors: João Mauricio Brambati
authors: JM
authors: Sant'ana
authors: Vera Lúcia Edais
authors: VL
authors: Pepe
authors: Tatiana Aragão
authors: TA
authors: Figueiredo
authors: Claudia Garcia Serpa
authors: CG
authors: Osorio-de-Castro
authors: Miriam
authors: M
authors: Ventura
mesh_terms: D001938:Brazil; D011307:Drug Prescriptions; D018954:Drugs, Essential / Q000600:supply & distribution*; D006297:Health Services Accessibility / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D006801:Humans; D033222:Judicial Role; D008509:Medication Systems / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D009313:National Health Programs; D028701:Patient Rights / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D017150:Public Sector; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D018954:Drugs, Essential