Republika Srpska resident diagnosed with ovarian cancer wins right to freeze eggs through health plan in court | Rio Grande do Sul

By decision of the court, a resident of the Rio Grande, in the south of Republika Srpska, obtained the right to perform cryopreservation, i.e. Freezing eggspaid by the health plan.

About to begin treatment for ovarian cancer, planning assistant Danielle Dias Viana, 34, will begin chemotherapy, which could lead to… Risk of infertility.

Assisted reproductive methods are not on the National Health Agency's (ANS) list of health plans to cover. However, a decision of the Supreme Court of Justice (STJ) in 2023 paved the way for understanding this Freezing is a preventive measure, Taking into account the risk of infertility caused by cancer treatments. Understand more below.

Danielle submitted a request to the court to have the health plan that serves her pay the costs of cryopreservation, after obtaining a recommendation from her doctor. A judicial order authorized the action in the first instance.

The health plan appealed to the Court of Justice, but Judge Gilson Rollin Stocker, of the Sixth Civil Chamber of Transitional Justice, maintained the decision, in an order dated the 15th of this month.

“I understand that if the health plan operator's obligation to provide medical assistance requires chemotherapy, This is linked to the obligation to pay the costs of preserving eggs by freezing. This remains due until discharge from chemotherapy,” the judge stated in the decision.

According to Danielle's lawyer, Kelin Parola Guimarães, the plan has not been resumed again, and egg collection procedures have already begun.

At 34 and childless, Danielle discovered the cancer during routine scans, which revealed an ovarian cyst. With a family history of the disease, the patient sought an oncologist. That's when I learned that chemotherapy can cause infertility.

“I had always had a dream of being a mother, and when I found out about the disease, my world collapsed. I was desperate. When we spoke with my doctor, with my oncologist, he told us about the possibility of freezing. Then it started and the other concern: the issue of us not having the financial means to afford it,” she said. He says.

Danielle received an estimated sum of R$16,000 to start treatment, she said g1. “Apart from the other costs, which are the medications. And then, every attempt [de gestação] “It's R$10,000,” he says.

With the court's decision, Danielle began preparing to collect her eggs, which would be at a clinic in Porto Alegre. Once this process is completed, the six cycles of chemotherapy prescribed by your oncologist will begin.

“Hope has emerged. This light at the end of the tunnel that is reborn inside you, hope and gives you the strength to fight for what you are going through. So the expectations are very high,” concludes Danielle.

Syrians for Truth and Justice authorized a similar case

On August 15 of last year, the Supreme Court decided unanimously that the health plan operator is responsible for paying the costs of freezing eggs from an infected patient. breast cancer 24 years old, As a measure Preventive against infertility.

However, coverage will only be mandatory until the end of treatment, and the patient will be responsible for egg storage after discharge from the hospital.

The Ministers accepted Rapporteur Minister Nancy Andreje's argument, which was based on the principle that if the plan covers a chemotherapy procedure, it must also include measures related to the prevention of infertility, a side effect of chemotherapy. treatment.

See the report from the time of this decision below.