A indissociabilidade entre o direito à vida e à saúde : o dilema ético entre salvar/dispor da vida humana na perspectiva dos direitos fundamentais no Brasil

Abstract

The present work aims to analyze the connection between the rights to life and health and their positions as fundamental rights, in the face of relevant issues in the ethical and legal fields. The inseparability of these rights introduces the discussion to situations such as the provision of essential health services. Initially, the historical context and constitutional regulation of the right to life were addressed, along with conceptualizations and its position in human rights protection statutes. Subsequently, the focus was on highlighting the relationship between the principle of human dignity, which guides the Legal System, and the right to an existential minimum, emphasizing the importance of ensuring the basic rights necessary to live with dignity. Furthermore, the aim was to analyze the right to health as a programmatic norm, emphasizing universal and equal access as principles of the SUS, in addition to topics like the comprehensiveness of medical care and negligence in the face of patients in serious situations, such as abandonment and omission in treatment. The dilemma between saving or disposing of human life is present in situations involving the disposition of life, as is the case with euthanasia, where fundamental principles of bioethics such as the principle of patient autonomy are discussed. The Judiciary’s role in implementing the right to health has gained greater notoriety in situations of public power inertia, necessitating its activation. It is concluded, therefore, that it is necessary to analyze the right to health together with the right to life, respecting the principle of autonomy, especially in the face of medical intervention.