Watchdog takes Milei government to court over medicine for sick children

A state watchdog has filed a court injunction against President Javier Milei’s government urging it to supply medicine to children with cancer. 

Marisa Graham, a lawyer and Argentina’s Defensora Nacional de los Derechos de Niñas, Niños y Adolescentes (National Ombudswoman for the Rights of Girls, Boys and Adolescents), confirmed the action in a radio interview on Wednesday.

The Ombudsman’s Office has lodged an injunction in the local courts in a bid to force the government to supply the corresponding medication to children suffering “diseases of high complexity,” including oncological treatment, she said.

Supplies are lacking and deliveries have been interrupted for months, according to the watchdog.

In an interview with Splendid AM 990, Graham confirmed the legal action and said the institution was upholding children’s rights and demanding that the law as it now stands be heeded.

“We have lodged this lawsuit to reclaim the delivery of medication for diseases of high complexity which the government has ceased to provide,” indicated Graham, who was appointed to her state position in 2019 by a bicameral congressional committee.

The lawyer said the Milei government has already appealed the injunction, which is backed by the ALAPA (Asociación Civil Alianza Argentina de Pacientes) patients association and was filed on January 2 at the Juzgado Federal N°2 courtroom.

It is nothing more than “an injunction in favour of boys, girls and adolescents requiring special and costly medicine,” including “oncological treatment,” Graham added.

“This is a violation of the rights of children and adolescents. All we ask is that the law be heeded,” she added.

According to the ombudsman, the injunction “obliges” the national state “to resolve within 10 days the administrative case files, which are running 60 days behind in their response.” It must “bring all the case files being processed up to date within 20 days.”

Watchdog under threat?

The Milei government has slashed public spending since taking office last December, embarking on fierce austerity measures in a bid to balance the budget and lower runaway inflation. Its so-called “chainsaw” approach to the state has seen several ministries, bodies and watchdogs shuttered.

The future of the Defensora Nacional de los Derechos de Niñas, Niños y Adolescentes is among the state bodies under threat, according to a collective of NGOs.

Graham’s future – and the future of the office she leads – has been the subject of speculation in recent weeks, with civil associations and NGOs fearing that the Milei government intends to leave her office vacant.

A collective of organisations, grouped under the banner “Infancia en Deuda,” recently warned that Congress has not yet formed the necessary bicameral commission to appoint new authorities to the Defensora Nacional de los Derechos de Niñas, Niños y Adolescentes, despite Graham’s term in office ending on February 28.

A court injunction filed by the groups is asking the courts to appoint a trustee to assume the functions of the ombudsman after that date.

If nobody replaces her, over a dozen class actions will fall through, warned the groups, citing cases involving the possibility of over a million kids receiving scholarships or a legal push to ensure access to drinking water for over 320,000 Salta kids.

“The institution is at risk today,” said Félix Samoilovich, a lawyer and member of the Asociación Civil por la Igualdad y la Justicia (ACIJ) in remarks reported by the Página/12 newspaper. 

The Milei government has had more than 12 months to form the commission, which is responsible for inviting and vetting the candidates to cover the post and appoint the new authorities, he added.

Even if the Senate were to appoint sufficient representatives right now (several have already been named), it would be almost impossible to follow all the procedural steps before February 28 when Graham’s term ends, argues the injunction.

It asks that until the competitive examinations are held, the normal functioning of the Ombudsman’s Office be guaranteed “in order to avoid irreparable damage to girls and boys.” 

The writ (also presented by the Equipo Latinoamericano de Justicia y Género Asociación Civil, the Fundación para Estudio e Investigación de la Mujer, Fundación Sur Argentina, Poder Ciudadano and the Centro de Estudios Legales y Sociales) enjoins the appointment of “one (or more) suitable persons ... until a new authority conforming to the current law is designated.”

During the January court holiday, federal judge Walter Lara Correa will be in charge of this lawsuit and as from February Enrique Alonso Regueira of the Juzgado en lo Contencioso Administrativo N°1 administrative litigation court.

– TIMES/NA