Right, justice and judicialization in oral health

Abstract

The right to health is a social right provided by the Constitution, essential to the well-being and dignity of the human being. The aim of this study is to analyze the requests for dental treatments in the Brazilian National Health System of Minas Gerais state, in order to know their characteristics, the legal, principle and biological argumentation used by the judges in their decisions. A survey was made covering the judgments listed on websites of Minas Gerais Court of Justice in the period from 2006 to 2016, resulting in 27 judgments. The results denote that the actions were postulated individually, with 93% of success in favor of users, and reports or requisitions were submitted in 88% of the actions. The main complaints that originated the requests for dental treatment were grouped into five groups. The most requested dental treatments were surgery for the placement of implants, followed by orthodontic appliance. The legal basis was based on the Constitution for theoretical justification, and the article 196 was the most cited, in 25 of the 27 judgments. In the reasoning based on the principle argumentation, the right to health was the most used, strengthening this social right, followed by the principle of the dignity of the human person, the principle of reserve of possible and the right to life. Justice has been sought as an alternative to access health services, but the consequences of this fact must be analyzed beyond the individual benefited because it involves the whole society.