The girl is released from the SUS and the judge bans R$367,000 for the surgery

A 14-year-old girl underwent a lobotomy to place a stent in her brain and avoid the risk of a fatal aneurysm. It has been a journey of anguish and agility to secure the procedure, which was not offered by the SUS (Unified Health System) and was funded following an injunction granted by 2nd Public Treasury Court Judge Claudio Müller Pareja.

The race against time began in May, after the girl’s headaches became stronger and more frequent. First, I went to a consultation at Evangelico Hospital and then to a neurologist, where I underwent a CT scan and angiography. Tests showed an aneurysm in the left vertebral artery, with some bleeding and a risk of rupture in the brain.

The situation was described as extremely serious and urgent. The girl was completely at ease. The retired mother and her retired husband cannot afford the treatment. They ran with the documents in their possession, and the request to carry out the procedure in the private network, with public resources, was submitted by the lawyer Ludmila Freitas de Ferraz, who specializes in claims in the health field.

“It was very painful on all sides,” he says. She said the couple struggled to quickly obtain necessary documents, such as medical reports. The application was submitted with a budget that included medical fees, materials, and hospital expenses, totaling R$367.9 thousand.

At first, the judge indicated that it was necessary for the patient to pass through the public health network. The girl went to UBS (Basic Health Unit) in Vila Popolar, where she was referred to a specialist from the municipality on August 10. Days later, she felt ill and was hospitalized in Santa Casa, the state’s SUS reference hospital for neurology and neurosurgery.

There, the same experts indicated that the case should be referred to the private network, because the SUS had not considered this type of procedure, angioplasty, with the insertion of a catheter that delivers the stent to the brain.

The information was forwarded to the judge and the injunction was issued earlier this month. The teen had the procedure immediately and, according to the lawyer, all went well and she was recovering at home.

The judge decided to reserve half of the value of the state treasury and the other half from the municipality. As during the operation, the lawyer was given a lower budget for a second hospital, and was able to recover R$50,000 to put back into public coffers.

Ludmila explained that the recommendation of the National Council of Justice (CNJ) is that in requests for public resources for health services, three budgets should be submitted. The lawyer revealed that SUS frequently updates the registration of paid-for medicines, but as far as surgical procedures are concerned, there are still many operations off the list, such as those indicated in the case of a teenager. The doctor revealed that the brain operation hypothesis has risks.

Neurosurgery in calamity– Santa Casa is a reference for neurology and neurosurgery by SUS in the state. Hospital specialists have recently declared the staff obsolete, overburdening the seven doctors who work, and have demanded that three more be appointed.

The management of the hospital brought the problem to the city council, which is the full director of the SUS, to the state and the prosecutor’s office. Resource promotion request to increase staff. And ends on Monday the nineteenth of this month, the deadline imposed by the doctors to find a solution.

The hospital reported to the report, Friday, that there had been no progress. The Municipal Health Department reports that there is a contract with the unit and that it is responsible for providing services under the agreed terms.