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Background: The BraZilan Constitution states:" Health is the dght of al persons and the duy of the State." Yet individuals in Bragilfrequentyface barriers to health prevention and treatment. One response to these bariers has been a" udidalization" of the rght to health, xith an increasing number of patients suing the governmentfor access to medidnes.

Objective/Methods: This study uses a mixed methods approach to identify trends in lawsuits for medidnes in the southern state of Rio Grande do Sul (RS) and to characterize patient-plaintffs. Electronic registries were used to determine the number of health lawsuits filed between 2002 and 2009. In-depth interviews were conducted xith thiry patient-plainiffs, and 1,080 lawsuits for medidnes under review between September 1, 2008 and July 31, 2009 were analyled to assess socio-demogrphic, medical, and legal characteristics of patient-plaintiffs.

Results: Between 2002 …