The Federal Public Ministry (MPF) and the Public Defender's Office of the State of Amazonas (DPE/AM) filed a lawsuit in the Federal Court demanding responsibility from the Union, the state of Amazonas and the municipality of Manaus for the medical oxygen shortage crisis in hospitals in the state of Amazonas. region in January 2021. The lack of oxygen occurred during the second wave of infections of the covid-19 pandemic and resulted in the deaths of several people due to the lack of the input.
In the action, in addition to compensation totaling R$4 billion, the MPF asks that entities be obliged to implement Transitional Justice mechanisms – a term used to describe the set of political and judicial measures used to deal with human rights violations – such as the holding of a public hearing, the construction of a physical and virtual memorial in honor of the victims and the development of a support program for the families of the deceased.
For the MPF and DPE/AM, the widespread lack of medical oxygen caused a humanitarian tragedy in the region. According to estimates from the Amazonas Doctors Union, around 60 people died from asphyxiation on January 14 alone.
The bodies allege that the Union, the State of Amazonas and the Municipality of Manaus are responsible for the public health crisis, as they were omitted in planning actions to combat the pandemic.
The compensation requested includes R$1.6 billion for homogeneous individual damages, due to violations of the victims' rights to life and health, and R$2.4 billion for collective social and moral damages.
It was also requested, on a preliminary basis, that entities immediately recognize responsibility for the oxygen shortage crisis, including the publication of an apology to the victims and families of the deceased.
Another request made in the action is for the Union, the state of Amazonas and the municipality of Manaus to provide accurate information about events related to the oxygen crisis, such as the number of deaths, transfer of patients to other states and other damage to health. The objective is to ensure public transparency, as even three years after the crisis, the exact numbers of victims are unknown or disputed.
The MPF and DPE/AM argue that Brazil lacks policies aimed at building a collective memory, which makes it difficult to implement measures to prevent similar events from occurring again. Therefore, they are calling for the construction of a physical and virtual memorial in honor of the victims of the oxygen crisis.
Investigations carried out by the MPF point to a series of omissions by public authorities in decisions related to Covid-19 in Amazonas, including the lack of sufficient procurement of medical oxygen, even after alerts sent by the company supplying the product.
Still according to the findings of the investigation carried out by the MPF, the public authorities were also negligent in failing to adequately plan the removal of patients to other states, even though they were aware of the collapse of the health system and the existence of vacancies made available by other units of the federation.
The lack of coordinated social distancing measures and the encouragement of the use of medicines without scientific evidence also contributed to the collapse of the healthcare system and the widespread lack of medical oxygen in the state.
Source: CNN Brasil
I’m James Harper, a highly experienced and accomplished news writer for World Stock Market. I have been writing in the Politics section of the website for over five years, providing readers with up-to-date and insightful information about current events in politics. My work is widely read and respected by many industry professionals as well as laymen.
