Health Minister Manuel Pizarro refused this Friday to comment on the case of the Portuguese-Brazilian twins, saying that his comments could be interpreted as a way to condition the investigation.
Asked whether he had already been heard by the General Inspectorate of Medical Activities (IGAS), whether documents had been requested from the guardianship and about the known development of the situation, Manuel Pizarro replied that it was a case that he should not make public. Comments.
“It does not seem to me appropriate, at a time when checks and inspections are being carried out, two of which are carried out by institutions of the Ministry of Health, the Santa Maria Hospital and IGAS, I do not think that it makes sense for me to make comments that could be interpreted as conditioning this investigation or even interfering with this investigation,” the minister said.
According to Manuel Pizarro, who spoke in Covilha on the sidelines of the ceremony of the 25th anniversary of the Faculty of Health Sciences of the University of the Interior of Beira, “this is a stage in which the minister is obliged to wait for the work of these institutions.”
On Wednesday in Porto, the minister considered that it would be unacceptable for a clinical decision to be succumbed to political pressure.
“The clinical decision must prevail in the health care system and have absolute priority over all points of view,” he argued.
Regarding the ongoing investigation, Manuel Pizarro said that the duty of his ministry “is to provide all the documentation that can be found in the Ministry of Health”, stressing that he is at the disposal of the organizations to provide all the clarifications that will allow them to find out what happens, went through this process.
The case of the twins was revealed in a TVI report aired in early November, according to which two Portuguese-Brazilian children came to Portugal in 2020 to receive the drug Zolgensma, worth four million euros, with suspicions that this was under the influence of the President of the Republic. who denied any interference in the matter.
In a statement to reporters at the Belem Palace on Monday, Marcelo Rebelo de Souza confirmed that his son Nuno Rebelo de Souza contacted him about the case in 2019.
The Head of State stated that the attitude towards the twins’ case was neutral and the same as towards many others, and stated that correspondence in the Presidency of the Republic on this matter was sent to the Office of the Prosecutor General (GPR).
In addition to the PGR and IGAS, the case is also subject to an internal review at the Hospital University of Northern Lisbon, of which the Santa Maria Hospital is part.
Author: Lusa
Source: CM Jornal
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