Abstract

QUINTANA-CEPEDA, Anamaría. The role of the Constitutional Court on the analysis of contracts of prepaid medicine programs. Rev. salud pública [online]. 2016, vol.18, n.5, pp.827-836. ISSN 0124-0064.  https://doi.org/10.15446/rsap.v18n5.45135.

Since 1991, when the current Colombian Constitution came into force and the Constitutional Court was appointed as its guardian and protector, constitutional values have permeated all subjects and areas of law, even those that were previously considered as private matters.

Prepaid medicine contracts are a good example of this phenomenon, since the Colombian Constitutional Court has limited individual freedom of contract to private parties -prepaid medical companies- for the benefit of final users of this service through "acción de tutela", in order to protect the right to healthcare and to prevent some behaviors that violate the principle of good faith. The Court has demanded private companies to assess the health condition of patients and has prohibited pre-existent and exclusion clauses that diminish the responsibilities of said companies. Nevertheless, there is a gap in the law regarding the duties of good faith that concern the user, which will be addressed in this paper.

Keywords : Human rights; patient rights; patient advocacy; jurisprudence; contracts.

        · abstract in Spanish     · text in Spanish     · Spanish ( pdf )