The president of the Order of Physicians (OM), Carlos Cortes, said he would ask the health minister to insist on information in his area of intervention about the case of Portuguese-Brazilian twins.
Carlos Cortes recalled that this documentation has been requested twice from the Hospital Santa Maria (HSM) and this Friday the request will be confirmed so that the organization can intervene if warranted.
“We made this request. The request was not answered, and we insisted again. Today, like the Minister of Health, I will ask the Minister to provide OM with all clinical and technical information in the field of OM. competence., so that the OM, if necessary, intervenes in this issue,” the president said.
Carlos Cortés spoke in Covilha upon his arrival at the ceremony marking the 25th anniversary of the Faculty of Health Sciences of the University of the Interior of Beira, which was also attended by the minister responsible for it, Manuel Pizarro.
On Thursday, the MM once again asked the MFM for “concrete data” on the case of the Portuguese-Brazilian twins in order to intervene if necessary.
The president said there were “principles of fairness and equality that may not have been respected” in the work of the Portuguese-Brazilian twins, and stressed that doctors cannot forget their code of ethics, regardless of the functions they perform.
“What doctors should never forget is that they must always comply with their code of ethics, regardless of the role they perform at the moment, especially if it is a role that is directly related to health,” emphasized Carlos Cortes.
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, with suspicions that this was due to the influence of the President of the Republic, which denied any interference in this 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 the General Inspectorate of Medical Activities (IGAS), the case is also subject to an internal review by the Centro Hospitalar Universitário de Lisboa Norte, of which HSM is part.
The General Inspectorate for Medical Activities said it was listening to medical professionals, hospital managers, Health Ministry authorities and family members of the Portuguese-Brazilian twins as it looked forward to collecting “more evidence” from decision-makers at various levels.