Health Minister Ricardo Mestre refused this Monday to comment on the case of Portuguese-Brazilian twins treated in Portugal, noting that the ministry is “obviously and, as always,” ready to cooperate in the investigation.
“The Ministry of Health, as always, is obviously ready to provide all the information requested by the competent authorities,” said Ricardo Mestre.
On the sidelines of the session “Technological modernization of SNS hospitals” at the Portuguese Institute of Oncology in Porto, having learned about the latest developments in this case, Ricardo Mestre mentioned the ongoing investigation.
“This situation is being investigated by the competent authorities,” he said.
However, the Prosecutor General’s Office (PGR) confirmed that it had received “emails” from the President of the Republic regarding the matter, adding the correspondence to the ongoing investigation.
“The receipt of the above documentation from the Prosecutor General’s Office of the Republic has been confirmed. She was sent to DIAP. [Departamento de Investigação e Ação Penal] The Lisbon regional office will be involved in the ongoing investigation,” PGR indicated in response to Lusa, following the statement this Monday by the President of the Republic.
We are talking about a TVI report aired at the beginning of November, according to which two Portuguese-Brazilian children came to Portugal in 2019 to receive the drug Zolgensma – one of the most expensive in the world – for spinal muscular atrophy, for a total of only four million Euro.
According to TVI, there were suspicions that this happened under the influence of the President of the Republic, who denied any interference in the matter.
On Monday, Marcelo Rebelo de Souza said that the correspondence regarding this case began on October 21, 2019, with an email that his son Nuno Rebelo de Souza sent to him, emphasizing that he gave “neutral and equal to what happened in the case” .
He added that there was no “interference by the President of the Republic as to whether he is a son or not,” and the exchange of information with the President ended ten days later, on October 31.
“What happened next, I don’t know, that’s why the PGR is investigating. And I hope, as I said a few days ago, that it will be complete to understand what has happened since he left Belem,” he said. .
The case is also being analyzed by the General Inspectorate of Medical Activities (IGAS) and is the subject of an internal audit at the Hospital University of Northern Lisbon, of which the Santa Maria Hospital is part.
Author: Lusa
Source: CM Jornal
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