The Liberal Initiative (IL) parliamentary group on Tuesday asked that former Foreign Minister Augusto Santos Silva be heard before a parliamentary commission of inquiry into the case of Portuguese-Brazilian twins being treated at Santa Maria Hospital in Lisbon.
At the request of the IL, Chegi leader Andre Ventura asked to add the name of former Justice Minister Franziska Van Dunem, who headed the Ministry of Justice at the time of the events.
These requests were presented at the end of the hearing to the former Minister of Justice Catarina Sarmento e Castro and will be voted on next Friday at 14:00, before the lawyer of the children’s mother, Wilson Bicalo, is heard.
The request for a hearing with the former ministers came after Catarina Sarmento e Castro stated several times during her speech in Parliament that she was not Minister of Justice at the time the twins were naturalized and that issues related to the consulate Sao Paulo responsibility lies with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Augusto Santos Silva served as Minister of Foreign Affairs and Francisca Van Dunem was Minister of Justice between 2015 and 2022 in the XXI and XXII constitutional governments.
We are talking about the treatment in the hospital of two Portuguese-Brazilian children who received the drug Zolgensma. Costing two million euros per person, the drug aims to control the spread of spinal muscular atrophy, a neurodegenerative disease.
The case is still being investigated by the Prosecutor General’s Office, but the General Inspectorate of Health has already concluded that these children’s access to neuropediatric consultation was illegal.
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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