Woman demands reinstatement of free medicine in court protest

A Paola woman filed a judicial protest in the Civil Court against the government’s Chief Medical Officer and the director of social security, requesting they reinstate her eligibility for free medicinals and issue an apology.

The issue dates back to 2009, when Alexia Muscat suffered a fall whilst working in a government polyclinic, resulting in a permanent 10% disability as established by the Court of Appeal in a previous case. The court had held the government CMO responsible for damages, but that there was no need for compensation for medicinals as they were to be supplied, free of charge, by government.

In the protest, the plaintiff claims that she had recently been notified that the very expensive pills prescribed to her by a consultant at Mater Dei Hospital were no longer going to be supplied for free and that she would have to bear their future cost.

Muscat declared that she had visited the Department of Social Security and the Department of Health to personally hand a letter requesting a review of her case.

During this visit, she claims she was greeted “with great anger, shouting and insults” by the assistant director of Customer Care, Anthony Cesare, who is alleged to have said that “he does not care about letters from lawyers” and that “he makes the laws”.

Lawyer Joseph Brincat, signing the protest, explained that he was personally assured that an apology would be issued to the plaintiff by Cesare. In spite of this assurance, “no apology was received”.

The plaintiff requested the court declare that her right to free medicine be reinstated “not as a concession, but by way of right” and that she be refunded the amounts she was forced to spend on the aforementioned medicinal in the past weeks.

She requested the director of social security take the necessary steps to ensure that “she, as a citizen, is treated with dignity” in her future dealings with the department.