The "Together for Life" association has achieved its first legal victory in support of a patient. In March, the First Instance Court of Tirana ruled in favor of patient E. R., who was assisted by "Together for Life" in her lawsuit against the University Hospital Center "Mother Teresa." She claimed the hospital failed to provide appropriate treatment for her illness. The court ruled that "QSUT has the legal obligation to timely calculate its medication needs and arrange for their procurement to ensure continuous medical services with medications." The court ordered that the patient be compensated for both material and non-material damages.
For several years, the "Together for Life" association has been advocating for patients' rights. The association has launched numerous projects focused on the right to health, conducting advocacy campaigns, investigations to uncover issues, training sessions, seminars, and media outreach for patients, as well as providing legal assistance. Their work has particularly focused on patients with malignant diseases, especially those in the Oncology service at QSUT. The association has actively fought for their rights by organizing demonstrations in front of the Prime Minister's Office (February 25, 2015) and the oncology service on special dates (July 13, 2016; March 8, 2017; March 8, 2018).
In addition to its institutional efforts to address issues such as medication and diagnostic equipment shortages, the "Together for Life" association has supported individual patient cases. This work aims to build citizens' and patients' trust in legislative institutions while raising awareness and educating them about their rights as patients.
- E. R.'s case came to the association after she claimed she did not receive timely medical service. The association provided legal experts to evaluate the situation and informed the Ombudsman's institution. A lawsuit was then filed with the First Instance Administrative Court. Upon review, the court determined that QSUT failed to follow the protocol for providing medical treatment to E. R.
Patient E. R. was represented in court by Attorney Erjon Kanxheri, with support from the Law Center of the Open Society Foundation for Albania – OSFA.
Beyond this case, the "Together for Life" association has brought several other patient cases to court, believing that these successful outcomes will not only help the individual cases but also inspire other patients who face violations of their rights by the healthcare system.
