🧬Cancer and high-cost care· 2026
Court orders Health Ministry to supply Opdualag to virologist Moratorio
Two instances ordered the Ministry to supply a drug that is neither registered in Uruguay nor on the National Therapeutic Formulary. The case distils the whole high-cost drug dispute.
Figure published by the sources
«varios miles de dólares por mes» según Subrayado; FM Gente situó el valor de mercado del Opdualag en unos US$ 30.000 mensuales
Bodies involved
Ministerio de Salud Pública · Fondo Nacional de Recursos
What it is
Scientist and virologist Gonzalo Moratorio was diagnosed with a grade 4 astrocytoma in the left parietal lobe, Subrayado reported. The treatment indicated by his doctor, the drug Opdualag, is neither registered with the Ministry of Public Health nor included in the National Therapeutic Formulary. Moratorio filed an amparo action against the Ministry and the National Resources Fund: the same route taken in 2025 by 2,219 people over high-priced medicines and techniques, according to the Pan American Health Organization.
What is questioned
On 4 May 2026 judge Lucía Granucci granted the amparo and ordered the Health Ministry to deliver the medicine at no cost within a maximum of 24 continuous hours from notification of the ruling, Subrayado reported; the claim against the FNR was dismissed for lack of standing, according to FM Gente and El Observador. The Ministry appealed, arguing, according to El Observador, that the drug is not registered in Uruguay, that it is not on the Therapeutic Formulary and that there was no "manifest illegality" in its conduct. On 1 June 2026 the Third Chamber of the Civil Court of Appeals upheld the ruling: for the court, "judicial action in protection of the constitutional right to health cannot be made subject to regulatory or bureaucratic requirements", and the State must guarantee the means for "patients lacking sufficient resources". El Observador reported that the court also confirmed that the FNR has no standing to be found liable, a criterion already adopted at first instance, and that it was established that Moratorio does not have sufficient resources to meet the cost.
Why it matters to you
A won injunction forces the State to buy one specific drug, urgently and with no room to negotiate the price. The case shows the real dilemma: the same State that refuses coverage for lack of registration ends up paying for it under a court order.
Where it stands
El Observador reported on 2 June 2026 that the ruling established the Ministry must provide the treatment indicated by the treating physician "for as long as necessary". Subrayado put the drug's cost at "several thousand dollars a month"; FM Gente said its market value "is around 30,000 dollars monthly". As of this file's closing date (August 2026) there is nothing on record after the second-instance ruling of 1 June 2026.
This money does not travel through state procurement
The contract-by-contract cross-reference is not available for this file. The money is executed through a channel the public-procurement open data does not record, so putting a total here would be inventing it. The cited sources are, for now, the only public quantification.
Where it goes instead
Public-private partnerships (PPP), trusts, state-to-state contracts, direct agreements, or a state company's own budget. None of those channels publish their awards on the Compras Estatales portal.
A purchase ordered by a court is executed through urgent administrative channels and does not necessarily generate a tender in the state procurement search. And a patient's name never appears in a contract: cross-referencing could only show Ministry purchases of the drug itself.
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