Dossier de la semaine

Les faits

Les parents de D. ont effectué un recours auprès de la Ciri mais cette dernière a estimé que les circonstances avancées ne relevaient pas de la force majeure telle que visée dans les dispositions liées au décret inscription.

D. est atteint d’un diabète type 1 nécessitant une injection d’insuline. Lors de sa scolarité en primaire, il est arrivé à plusieurs reprises que l'école soit contrainte de rappeler la maman ou les grands-parents en urgence pour pouvoir lui administrer une injection d’insuline car l’école refusait de le faire.
Les parents, en connaissance de cause et vu la récurrence des crises aigues de D., ont choisi, sur conseil aussi des spécialistes qui suivent l’enfant au niveau médical, un établissement scolaire qui se situe à mi-chemin entre le domicile des grands-parents et le lieu de travail de la maman, de manière à ce que l’un et/ou l’autre soit rapidement à l’école en cas d’extrême nécessité.

D. n’a pas obtenu de place dans son école de premier choix et le second choix fait par les parents mettraient, en cas de crises, l’enfant dans une situation particulièrement délicate voire dangereuse.

L’intervention du Médiateur

Face au refus de leur recours, les parents saisissent le Médiateur. vu le dossier médical de l’enfant et les explications de l' école primaire quant aux div erses situations où elle a dû r appeler les par ents, le Médiateur s'étonne du refus de la Ciri de reconsidérer le classement de l’enfant et de lui permettre d'être reclassé dans l'école de son premier choix.

Le Médiateur attire l’attention de la Ciri sur la situation de santé préoccupante de D. Il explique que s’il est exact, comme le soutient la Ciri dans son courrier de refus, que tout établissement scolaire est présumé pouvoir prendre en charge D., il n’en est pas moins que la gestion d’une hypoglycémie avec perte de connaissance, convulsions, coma n’est pas aisée et que la proximité tant du lieu de travail de la maman que des grands -parents permet à l’établissement de pouvoir contacter et faire venir l’un d’eux plus rapidement, tout en appelant les secours.

Le refus d’administrer un médicament, peu importe la situation d’urgence, de la part de l’école n’est pas non plus une situation exceptionnelle. En effet, qu’il s’agisse d’injection d’insuline pour des causes aigues de diabète de type 1 ou d’injection d’adrénaline en cas d’allergies sévères, les écoles ne veulent pas endosser la responsabilité d’un tel acte médical.
Le diabète de type 1 est une maladie mal connue de tout un chacun et est malheureusement encore souvent banalisée. Même si cette maladie est mieux gérée qu’auparavant, il n’en demeure pas moins que certains individus sont confrontés à des accidents aigus pouvant entrainer la mort.

Souvent les écoles refusent d’administrer la dose à l’enfant et préfèrent appeler le 112. Lors d’une des crises de D., le SMUR est arrivé 15 minutes après que l’enfant ait commencé sa crise. Il ne cessait de convulser. Cette situation est à la fois traumatisant pour l’enfant mais aussi son entourage scolaire et familial.

Le Médiateur a démontré dans son intervention que le choix du premier établissement avait été réfléchi en fonction de l'état de santé de l’enfant et de sa prise en charge rapide en cas de malaise sévère. Il a démontré que le premier choix permettrait à l’enfant d'être pris en charge plus rapidement et éviterait des complications par rapport au second choix où la maman mettrait entre 10 et 12 minutes pour arriver, un délai trop important.

L’issue de la médiation

Suite à l’interpellation du Médiateur et aux divers arguments avancés, la Ciri a reconsidéré le dossier et a répondu positivement au recours des parents de D. Il a pu être reclassé dans son école de premier choix.

Attention : chaque cas évoqué ne peut pas nécessairement être généralisé à d’autres situations. En effet, quand il traite une réclamation, le Médiateur examine la situation concrète et prend en compte les arguments invoqués et les pièces probantes apportées.

Link: https://curia.europa.eu/jcms/upload/docs/application/pdf/2024-03/cp240046en.pdf

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PRESS RELEASE No 46/24

Luxembourg, 14 March 2024

Judgment of the Court in Case C-291/22 P | D & A Pharma v Commission and EMA

Marketing authorisations for medicinal products: the European Medicines Agency (EMA) must ensure that the experts it consults do not have a conflict of interest

The EMA cannot avoid this obligation of objective impartiality by requiring the applicant to prove the bias of the committee member concerned

The laboratory D & A Pharma filed an application with the European Medicines Agency (EMA) for marketing authorisation for Hopveus, a medicinal product derived from sodium oxybate. That active substance is indicated to combat alcohol dependence in the medium and long term.

(...)

El Defensor del Pueblo andaluz, Jesús Maeztu, ha considerado hoy que "la vivienda es clave en la lucha contra la pobreza y en la consecución de la igualdad real", en el transcurso de una reunión con la Asociación Española de Gestores Públicos de Vivienda y Suelo (AVS).

El presidente de la AVS,  José María López Cerezo, quien a su vez es director gerente del Instituto Municipal de la Vivienda de Málaga, ha presentado al Defensor los nuevos retos y objetivos de la asociación y ha expuesto sus impresiones sobre el panorama actual en materia de vivienda publica.

El presidente de la AVS ha destacado la necesidad de una mayor inversión en vivienda social y ha agradecido la colaboración del Defensor del Pueblo andaluz en la visibilidad de este problema.

Students aged between 14 and 18 from different Stara Zagora schools visited today the Ombudsman Institution as part of their training as young leaders in the course “Integrity, development and success through civic activism” which is part of a project of the International Youth Center – Think Locally, Act Globally.

Students aged between 14 and 18 from different Stara Zagora schools visited today the Ombudsman Institution as part of their training as young leaders in the course “Integrity, development and success through civic activism” which is part of a project of the International Youth Center – Think Locally, Act Globally.

Deputy Ombudsman Elena Cherneva welcomed the young people and informed them about the powers and functions of the institution, about the Ombudsman as a figure that is a Constitution-established independent authority to promote and protect the rights and freedoms of citizens and explained that the election is pursuant to the Ombudsman Act by the National Assembly for a 5-year term in office.

“The Ombudsman’s main prerogative, first of all, is to be a postbox for complains and reports about violations of rights of citizens. The agenda of the activity of the institution is formulated in this way. After complaints are lodged, verification is requested from the authorities implicated and, if necessary, recommendations are sent. The Ombudsman is free to act on his/her own initiative in case of recurrent problems and to propose amendments to the legislation that are submitted to the Speaker of the National Assembly,” the Deputy Ombudsman said.

Elena Cherneva emphasized that last year citizens filed approximately 15,500 complaints and that most often they complain against violations of consumer rights – against banks, collection agents, district heating companies, power distribution companies, water and sewerage operators, etc.

The main focus of the meeting was the work of the Ombudsman to protect consumers’ rights as affected by the indexation and the increase of the tariffs of mobile service providers. In connection with that, the students asked to be advised how they could protect themselves and their families against a recurring increase of the mobile service tariffs and what they should undertake to that effect.

The Deputy Ombudsman described in detail the institution’s fight against the indexation of monthly subscription fees and explained that it is immaterial in the sense of the Consumer Protection Act, as it is not agreed on with the individual subscriber. That is, the customers of the mobile service operators cannot influence the text of their contracts with the mobile service operators and even are confronted with difficulties to read the contracts before they sign them.

Elena Cherneva drew attention to the fact that the indexation clause in the contract does not even require the express consent of the customer, unlike clauses such as “this contract shall take effect” or “consents to the processing of personal data” where the customer could negotiate.

It was made clear that indexation is seen as an avenue solely to price increases and that practically there is no provision for price reductions in the event of deflation, i.e. the decrease of this index.

“The unfairness of the contract term derives from the absence of reciprocity to reduce the price of the service,” the Ombudsman’s expert Lyubomir Kalinov explained.

The students were eager to know why, when the price goes up, people cannot opt out of their contract with a mobile service operator even if the final set price is significantly higher as compared to the price agreed on by their parents at the time of signing the contract.

The Deputy Ombudsman praised the students on their creative thinking and stressed that thus customers do not have the opportunity to assess the financial implications of entering into such a contract.

“The indexation clause does not clearly indicate the amount of the possible increase and just remarks that it is adjusted to the average annual index of consumer prices for the previous year, as stated by the National Statistical Institute (NSI). There is no way for the consumer, even if he/she is an economic expert, to know the amount of the possible increase since it is not known what the average annual consumer price index will be,” said Nina Boyadjieva, Director of the Rights of Users of Administrative and Public Services Department.

The discussion deepened with the young leaders’ specific questions as to why the institutions that the Ombudsman has been alerting since 2020 failed to do their job and why mobile service operators are allowed to benefit from unfair contract terms through unfair business practices and deceitful sale techniques. They decided to file a collective complaint to the Ombudsman against this vicious practice and started to consider what action they may take at local level to voice their discontent with price indexation.

World Down Syndrome Day is celebrated on March 21every year. The purpose of this day is to raise awareness about people with Down syndrome and promote their integration into society. "End The Stereotypes" was chosen as the theme of the Down Syndrome Day in 2024.

On March 14, 2024, Georgian Public Defender Levan Ioseliani participated in a medical conference dedicated to the World Down Syndrome Day, where the health of people with Down syndrome, modern approaches and new developments were discussed.

In his welcoming speech, the Public Defender talked about the activities of the Office in the direction of protection of the rights of persons with disabilities, emphasized the need for the joint work of the responsible agencies and people with Down syndrome, as well as their representative organizations, together with the health sector, in the direction of protecting their right to health. "I think that today's conference will significantly help the community members, organizations of persons with disabilities, decision-makers and medical experts to identify the needs of people with Down syndrome when receiving medical services and satisfy them. A lot need to be done in the country to develop health care services tailored to the individual needs of persons with disabilities," said Levan Ioseliani.

Representatives of the Parliament of Georgia, Government, embassies accredited in Georgia and international organizations participating in the event talked about the medical supervision of children and adults with Down syndrome, challenges in the health care system and changes in the guidelines of treatment methods, peculiarities of the health management of adults with Down syndrome, regression syndrome, diagnostics, treatment methods, criteria for early detection of dementia and depression.

The event was supported by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Kingdom of the Netherlands.