THE JUDICIALIZATION OF DRUG PROVISION IN BRAZIL: TENSIONS BETWEEN EQUITY AND SUSTAINABILITY IN THE SUS

Abstract

The judicialization of health has grown significantly in Brazil, especially regarding demands for the supply of high-cost medications. This phenomenon reveals the tension between the effectiveness of the individual right to health and the collective perspective of public policies within the Unified Health System (SUS). The present article employs a qualitative and exploratory methodology, developed through a bibliographic and documentary review, encompassing leading authors, institutional reports, and landmark decisions from the Federal Supreme Court (STF) and the National Council of Justice (CNJ). The study seeks to address the following question: to what extent does the judicialization of medication supply compromise the balance of the SUS? The analysis results indicate that, although judicialization is a legitimate instrument for protecting fundamental rights, it entails significant impacts on the public budget, administrative rationality, and access, favoring individual demands at the expense of collective policies. It is concluded that reconciling the individual right with distributive justice requires strengthening technical bodies such as the National Commission for the Incorporation of Technologies in the SUS (CONITEC) and the Judiciary’s Technical Support Center (NAT-Jus), as well as integration among the Branches of Power, in order to ensure the effectiveness of the right to health in an equitable and sustainable manner.