According to the list of over 20 names to which the Lusa agency had access, the social democrats want to call to parliament the former Health Ministers Marta Temido and Manuel Pizarro, the former Secretary of State António Lacerda Sales, his then secretary, and the chief of staff of the former Prime Minister António Costa at the time of the events, Francisco André.

The PSD also proposes to request statements from the son of the President of the Republic, Nuno Rebelo de Sousa, in his capacity as former president of the Portuguese Chamber of Commerce in São Paulo, and from the parents of the children.

The PSD list also includes the president of the Institute of Registries and Notaries (IRN), the president of Infarmed, Rui Santos Ivo, the president of the Santa Maria Local Health Unit, in addition to Daniel Ferro, who was president of the Board of Directors of the Lisbon North University Hospital Centre between 2019 and 2021, and Luís Pinheiro, former clinical director of that health unit.

The social democrats also want to hear from the director of neuropaediatrics at the Dona Estefânia Hospital, the coordinator of neuropaediatrics at the Santa Maria Hospital, the director of paediatrics of the same unit, Teresa Moreno, a doctor at the Santa Maria Hospital, José Pedro Vieira, a neuropaediatrician at the Faro Hospital, the doctors who contested the treatment in a letter sent to the clinical director, the Pharmacy and Therapeutics Commission and, also, the director of the physical medicine and rehabilitation service.

Regarding the documentation, the PSD wants parliament to have access to the history of the clinical process of the two children in Brazil and in Portugal, to the documents relating to the attribution of Portuguese nationality, to the "emails from the Civil House of the President of the Republic" and to the government's correspondence relating to this case and to all the documentation and correspondence exchanged between the office of the Secretary of State for Health and the Santa Maria Hospital.

The social democrats also request the opinion issued by the National Pharmacy and Therapeutics Commission regarding the use of the drug Zolgensma, the internal audit of the Santa Maria Hospital and "elements of investigation obtained by the Attorney General's Office (including the conclusions drawn by the Public Prosecutor's Office during the investigation)".

The parliamentary committee of inquiry will meet on Wednesday to deliberate on the requests for hearings and documentation submitted by the parties, to appoint the rapporteur, to evaluate and vote on the draft regulation, to evaluate and vote on the time grid and to establish the working methodology.

At issue is the treatment, in 2020, of two twins living in Brazil who acquired Portuguese nationality, with the drug Zolgensma. With a total cost of four million euros (two million euros per person), this drug aims to control the spread of spinal muscular atrophy, a neurodegenerative disease.

The case was reported by TVI last November and is still being investigated by the Attorney General's Office (PGR) and IGAS has already concluded that access to the neuropaediatric consultation of these children was illegal.

An internal audit of the Santa Maria Hospital also concluded that the scheduling of an initial hospital consultation by the Secretary of State for Health was the only exception to compliance with the rules in this case.

[News updated at 6:48 pm]

Read Also: Twins. PCP requests hearing of the president of the Infarmed Board of Directors (Portuguese version)