International Clients · Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Not every dissatisfaction with a procedure is malpractice. And not every error creates a duty to compensate.

Knowing the difference is what separates frustration from a well-founded claim. R.M. Andrade Advogados is a Rio de Janeiro law firm dedicated to Health and Medical Law, working with clients in Brazil and abroad — in English, French and Portuguese.

How we can help

• Procedures performed in BrazilComplications after surgery, cosmetic or dental treatment received in Brazil — whether you travelled here for care or lived here at the time. We assess responsibly whether there is a case, and tell you when there is not.
• Brazilians living abroadYour healthcare rights back home: the public system (SUS), Brazilian health plans, access to medication, and planning a return to Brazil for treatment.
• Foreign residents in BrazilHealth plan coverage denials, disputes with hospitals and clinics, and access to treatment for you and your family.
• Cross-border familiesSupporting relatives who depend on the Brazilian healthcare system while you live elsewhere.

Areas of practice

The firm works on two fronts: professional liability — errors in cosmetic procedures, medical, dental and veterinary malpractice — and health law — health plans, medication, access to treatment, home care, the public system and mental health.

See all areas of practice →

Who leads your case

Ramon Martins Andrade (Brazilian Bar — OAB/RJ 188.374) holds a law degree from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ, 2011), master’s degrees from Université Sorbonne Nouvelle — Paris 3 and from the Brazilian Naval War College, and a specialization in Human Rights and Health from ENSP/Fiocruz, where he is a researcher. He has taught Medical Law to physicians in postgraduate programs, and was among the first hires to launch Airbnb’s operations in Latin America — an experience that shaped how the firm works with international clients.

For matters outside its focus, or in other jurisdictions, the firm refers clients responsibly through a network of partner lawyers in Brazil and abroad.

Articles in English

• Recovery houses in Brazil: lodging or healthcare? The line that decides liability
• Can I sue a Brazilian clinic without flying back? The documents and the deposit
• Who is legally allowed to inject you in Brazil? How to check before the procedure
• Who gets treated, and why: Brazil’s SUS next to the NHS, Canada, Germany and the new US Medicaid rule
• Foreign prescriptions in Brazil: what works, what does not, and how to plan
• How long do you have to sue a doctor in Brazil? Why “three years” is usually the wrong answer
• Losing a lawsuit in Brazil: what the loser actually pays
• Why courts in Brazil can order your treatment: the 1996 case that came before the law
• HIV treatment, PrEP and PEP in Brazil: free for everyone, by law
• Can people living with HIV get Brazil’s BPC/LOAS benefit?
• Fired for living with HIV in Brazil? The law presumes discrimination
• Can a Brazilian health plan refuse someone living with HIV?
• Can foreigners use SUS, Brazil’s public health system? A practical guide
• How to use the SUS: Brazil’s public health system
• Emergency care in Brazil: UBS, UPA or hospital?
• Farmácia Popular: free medication in Brazil
• I have private insurance: can I use the SUS?
• Cancer treatment in the SUS: the 60-day law
• High-cost medication through the SUS
• Getting a specialist appointment: how regulation works
• Cosmetic surgery in Brazil: the legal rights foreign patients don’t know they have
• Can I get my money back after cosmetic surgery in Brazil?
• Dental work in Brazil went wrong: your rights as a foreign patient
• Sanitary return: healthcare rights of Brazilians living abroad
• Healthcare in Brazil for Brazilians living abroad: your rights
• I got sick on a cruise in Brazil: what does the operator owe me?
• Amitabh Bachchan and hepatitis B: the test came back reactive. What needs to happen next, and who is liable if it does not?
• Gaten Matarazzo and cleidocranial dysplasia: who pays for the treatment that starts at the tooth and ends in the hospital
• Bebe Rexha and PCOS: does a polycystic ovaries report settle the diagnosis?
• Lupita Nyong’o and fibroids: what Brazil’s SUS incorporated for heavy bleeding and what health plans cover
• Ben Stiller and the PSA test at 46: is it a medical error not to order the test for someone without symptoms?
• Simone Biles and ADHD: how an athlete in treatment applies for authorization to compete and who may read the medical report
• Shakira and vocal hemorrhage: when does the hoarseness of someone who works with their voice need to be investigated?
• Lady Gaga and fibromyalgia: what the SUS and health plans owe to those who live with pain
• Olivia Munn and the negative BRCA test: does a normal genetic test rule out breast cancer risk?
• Michael J. Fox and Parkinson’s: does the adaptive brain stimulation approved in the US exist in Brazil?
• Yuvraj Singh and cancer treated abroad: who takes over follow-up on returning to Brazil
• Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and chronic myeloid leukemia: must the health plan and the SUS repeat the BCR-ABL PCR?
• Andy Murray and hip resurfacing: can a health plan deny it because it is not a total hip replacement?
• Serena Williams and postpartum shortness of breath: does the complaint require investigating an embolism?
• Céline Dion and stiff-person syndrome: who coordinates rare-disease care in Brazil’s SUS?
• Venus Williams and Sjögren’s syndrome: does the health plan cover every specialist in the care?
• Emilia Clarke and discharge after a brain haemorrhage: must the SUS refer patients for rehabilitation?
• Halsey, lupus and a second diagnosis: who investigates what the first disease does not explain?
• Christina Applegate and multiple sclerosis: does the health plan cover the tests that monitor the treatment?
• Lewis Capaldi and Tourette syndrome: can people with tics ask for workplace adaptation?
• Justin Bieber and Ramsay Hunt syndrome: can facial paralysis wait for an appointment?
• How do I get my medical records from a Brazilian hospital after leaving Brazil?
• Selena Gomez and the kidney transplant: who guarantees the medicine and the follow-up after discharge
• Will the receipt from a Brazilian clinic satisfy my insurer at home?
• Kathy Bates and lymphedema after breast cancer: who pays for the physical therapy and the sleeve?
• Selma Blair and the transplant for multiple sclerosis: does the health plan or the SUS pay?

Our full library of 1,000+ articles on Brazilian health law is published in Portuguese.