The role of courts in providing access to health care services: The case of the supply of medicine in the Brazilian public health system

Throughout the last century democratic societies have moved by internal dynamics toward some version of the Welfare State and, as a consequence, social rights, which includes the right to access to health care services, have became part of international human rights law and, in a regional level, part of constitutional and fundamental rights in most democratic societies.
In spite of the recognition of the right to access to health care services as a fundamental right in most parts of the world, one of the big issues of this category of right is its provision by the states. In developing countries this question is even worse because states have to cope with scarcity and with the obligation to provide access to health. But when the executive and the legislative branches of government do not take actions to provide the population access to health care services, courts may interfere to recognize this social right. That is why during the last years courts have been playing an important role in the provision of access to health care services, mostly in developing countries, such as Brazil, where the right to health is explicitly enshrined in the Brazilian Constitution (Articles 6 and 196) and is considered to be justiciable.
            Taking into account this scenario, this paper aims at analyzing the role played by Brazilian Courts concerning the supply of medicine to the users of the Brazilian Public Health System (SUS) and aims at contributing to the debate over the intervention of the Judiciary Power on public health policies. The proposed analysis will focus on the question whether the interference of Brazilian courts in health policies can contribute to the development of the Brazilian Public Health System in terms of access to health services, especially medicines.