Tatiane Bagagí Faria
Lawyer at Marcos Martins Advogados
In decisions handed down last week, the Florianópolis District Court and the Chapecó District Court ordered the Abbott laboratory to immediately deliver the tetravalent vaccines that protect against the “H1N1”, “H3M2” and Influenza viruses, under penalty of a daily fine, to the clinics in the state that are carrying out the vaccination campaign.
In both cases, the clinics demonstrated that, as every year, they buy a large number of doses in advance to carry out the flu vaccination campaign. However, this year, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the multinational laboratory failed to deliver the vaccines, breaching the contract between the parties, opting to send them to other clients with the possibility of a higher unit price.
In the case being heard by the Chapecó District Court, the judge stated that “the current Covid-19 pandemic situation, although it has the power to change the basis of numerous legal transactions and consequently authorize their revision, cannot justify the breach of contracts for the mere possibility of increasing profits”.
A preliminary analysis concludes that the laboratory failed to provide clear information on the delivery and denial of compliance with the vaccine supply contract, and that this conduct was motivated by the possibility of reselling the doses to other customers at higher prices than previously agreed, due to the increased demand generated by the Covid-19 pandemic in the country. In the event of non-compliance with the injunction, a daily fine of R$ 25,000.00 (twenty-five thousand reais) was set, up to a limit of R$ 500,000.00 (five hundred thousand reais).
The Covid-19 pandemic has led to several issues being brought to court and the Marcos Martins law firm is attentive to the measures needed to safeguard its clients at this time of global crisis.
