The lawsuits against Health Surveillance: can one speak of ‘judicialization’?

Abstract

The objective of this study is to analyze the lawsuits filed against a municipal Health Surveillance service,  in the light of the phenomenon of health judicialization. It is a case study that had as  documentary source the judicial processes related to  Health Surveillance of the municipality of Salvador,  from 2000 to 2017. Fifty actions were analyzed, 90%  of which were in the form of injunctions, 28%  reported the presence of tax debts as the main object  of discussion and 72% requested the granting of the  health permit, which was granted in most decisions. It  was evidenced that the particular economic interest  pervades the motivations, the arguments and the  reasoning of the authors, as well as the basis of the decisions and sentences. The results indicate that one  cannot speak of ‘judicialization of the Health  Surveillance service’, in the sense that the Judiciary  branch of the government is assuming some  protagonism in the definition of Health Surveillance  actions. In addition, they indicate that it is necessary  to restructure the Health Surveillance way of working,  in order to provide administrative alternatives for the  resolution of conflicts.