Court orders IPS to provide hip prosthesis to insured patient

An appeals court has upheld a previous ruling that mandates the Social Security Institute (IPS) to provide a hip prosthesis to an insured patient, Praxede Ortiz de Olmedo. The court determined that the IPS's refusal to supply the necessary medical device violated constitutional guarantees.

Ortiz de Olmedo was admitted to the IPS Hospital de Especialidades Quirúrgicas Ingavi in April with a fractured right femur. Her doctor prescribed surgery, but the procedure could not proceed because the patient lacked the financial means to purchase the required hip prosthesis and other surgical supplies.

After a month of hospitalization, she was sent home to recover, as the surgery was contingent on obtaining the prosthesis. A lower court had initially ruled in her favor on May 26, ordering the IPS to provide the "total hip prosthesis -H, along with the set of instruments, surgical utensils, and other pertinent medical studies and procedures for the surgery."

The IPS appealed this decision. However, the appellate court, with one judge dissenting, confirmed the original ruling. The dissenting judge argued that while the patient has a right to surgical assistance, the provision of the prosthesis was not a legally enforceable obligation for the IPS in her capacity as a beneficiary. The majority, however, sided with the patient, affirming the constitutional right to the necessary medical equipment.