The commission of inquiry into the case of twins treated with the drug Zolgensma has scheduled a hearing to begin on Tuesday, June 17, with testimony from former Undersecretary of State for Health Antonio Lacerda Sales.
Lacerda Sales was scheduled to have a hearing next Thursday but was asked to postpone it, citing professional reasons for the absence.
The hearing of the former Secretary of State will take place on Thursday at 14:00 in Parliament.
Commission President Rui Paulo Sousa told Lusa this morning that the Chega parliamentary group had asked that the former ruler be heard on June 17.
At today’s meeting, in addition to the requests for hearings, the documentation that will be discussed in the committee was also approved, with the exception of that which “awaits the legal opinion of the Assembly of the Republic.”
Regarding the hearings, which must take place at least twice a week, the commission approved requests for testimony from the President of the Republic and his son Nuno Rebelo de Souza, as well as the head of the Civil Chamber of the President of the Republic, Fernando Frutuoso de Melo, and the Adviser to the President for Social Affairs, Maria Juan Ruela.
If the President of the Republic, according to the legal regime of parliamentary investigations, may give evidence in writing.
In addition to summoning the parents of the twins, whose hearings are due to begin on June 21, the commission also approved, among others, the hearings of journalist Sandra Felgueiras, former Justice Minister Catarina Sarmento and Castro, former Secretary of State for Portuguese Communities. Berta Nunez and former President of the Board of Directors of the Centro Hospitalar Universitário Lisboa Norte (CHULN) and current Minister of Health Ana Paula Martins.
According to commission president Rui Paulo Souza, only “most of the applications and documents” were requested today, stressing that the list is not closed.
At the initial stage, the commission undertook to listen to Lacerda Sales, the parents of the twins (first the father and then the mother), family lawyer, President of the Institute of Registration and Notary Filomena Rosa, Catarina Sarmento e Castro and Berta Nunez, due to the process of naturalization of the children.
Rui Paulo Souza also indicated that new hearings will begin at 14:00, in addition to June 17 and 21, the 25 and 28 of the same month. Two hearings are already scheduled for July – on the 2nd and 5th.
At the start of the work, PSD coordinator António Rodríguez issued a statement of “expression of concern” in a letter from the Ministry of Justice, saying that there was a process under investigation that was subject to judicial secrecy, and stating that his Parliamentary Group had written a note to the President of the Assembly of the Republic with a warning.
However, the chairman of the commission recalled that in other commissions of inquiry, such as, for example, the commission on the theft of materials seized in Tancos or the TAP commission, “the investigation was carried out by the prosecutor’s office.”
“In none of these cases did the commission suspend its work. The only question that remains open is that someone who is called to testify and has already been accused (…) may bring a lawyer and may end up not answering some questions,” he said. he claimed.
We are talking about the treatment in 2020 of two twins living in Brazil and who received Portuguese citizenship with the drug Zolgensma. The drug, which costs four million euros (two million euros per person), is designed to control the spread of spinal muscular atrophy, a neurodegenerative disease.
The case is still being investigated by the Prosecutor General’s Office (PGR) and IGAS has already concluded that these children’s access to neuropediatric consultation was unlawful.
Santa Maria Hospital’s internal audit also concluded that the state Department of Health’s first appointment at the hospital was the only exception to compliance in this case.
Author: Lusa
Source: CM Jornal
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