Brazil court releases Tancredo Neves medical records to family

The 13th Panel of the Federal Regional Court of the 1st Region (TRF1) has unanimously authorized the release of medical records belonging to Tancredo Neves to his son, Tancredo Augusto Tolentino Neves. This decision reverses a previous ruling that had upheld medical confidentiality.

The documents, which pertain to Neves's hospitalization in 1985, will be used to support research for the second edition of the book “O Paciente: O Caso Tancredo Neves” and to clarify details surrounding his death. Neves, who was elected via indirect vote, died before he could take office as the first civilian president after the military dictatorship.

While the Federal Council of Medicine (CFM) and the Regional Medical Council of the Federal District (CRM-DF) argued that professional secrecy is permanent, the rapporteur, Judge Roberto Carvalho Veloso, stated that medical confidentiality is not absolute. Veloso noted that the right to information and the preservation of national historical memory justify the release, asserting that understanding the circumstances of the treatment and death serves the interest of both the family and Brazilian society.