We are providing pro bono legal assistance to Evija Rača, who was incorrectly diagnosed with an oncological disease in 2020 and, as a result, received inappropriate treatment over an extended period of time. It was discovered that the diagnosis was inaccurate only in 2024.
Section 16, Paragraph 5 of the Law on the Rights of Patients provides that “a patient shall request compensation for harm caused to his or her life or health and compensation for medical expenses from the Medical Treatment Risk Fund not later than two years after the date when the harm has was detected, and not later than three years after the date when it was caused.” In this case, the time limitation was met, if calculated from the date of discovery of the damage, but the Health Inspectorate and the Ministry of Health refused to award compensation on the grounds that the three-year period starting from the date of the damage had expired.
Given that this delay was caused by circumstances beyond the person’s control and formally prevented them from receiving compensation for the damage suffered, the decision of the Ministry of Health was appealed in court.
When examining the application submitted by Evija Rača, the court had reasonable doubts as to the compliance of the applicable provision – Section 16, Paragraph five of the Law on the Rights of Patients – insofar as it establishes that a request for compensation must be submitted no later than two years from the date the damage was discovered, but in any event no later than three years from the date the damage was inflicted, with the third sentence of Article 92 of the Latvian Constitution (Satversme).
Our involvement and team
The Sorainen team – sworn attorney Reinis Papulis, associate Krista Niklase and assistant lawyer Kristīne Ilga Budkēviča – provided legal assistance both during the initial appeal against the Health Inspectorate’s decision and during the appeal against the Ministry of Health’s decision in court.
