Patient representatives criticize the change in the criteria for disability classification: “They cured us from the pen!”
Patient in Romania, Photo: Agerpres
The new medico-psychosocial criteria for classifying as disabled, approved at the beginning of November, are criticized by NGOs that defend the rights of disabled patients. “Thousands of people with chronic diseases or disabilities are afraid that they will be “cured” from the pen – that is, removed from the lists of beneficiaries by simply redefining the disability”, claim the patient representatives.
On November 6, the Order for the approval of the new medico-psychosocial criteria on the basis of which the disability classification is established, developed by the Ministry of Labor and the Ministry of Health, was published in the Official Gazette.
This Order modified the criteria on the basis of which the disability classification is established, as well as the medico-psychosocial criteria on the basis of which the term of permanent validity for the disability classification of persons with disabilities is established.
Patient associations consider the “fundamental problems” of Order 2300/1457/2025 to be: “ignorance of international standards”, “violation of human rights” and “abandonment of the helpless”.
The representatives of patient NGOs claim, in a statement, that “many oncological, neurological, psychiatric or locomotor patients – may lose financial support and access to social services because they “do not meet” the new severity criteria, although their medical condition has not changed.”
“Many families are left to fend for themselves with suffering, disability and poverty”
And this measure, they add, “comes in a paradoxical context. While citizens bear some of the highest fiscal burdens in the European Union, the public health system remains underfunded and dysfunctional.”
“Essential medicines are missing – either because they are 'too expensive' or because they are no longer economically viable. Palliative care and social assistance services are almost non-existent, and many families are left to deal with suffering, disability and poverty alone”, accuse the patient representatives.
The statement was signed by the Association of Patients with Autoimmune Diseases, the National Alliance for Rare Diseases, the National Council on Disability, the Association of Patients with Neurodegenerative Diseases and the Coalition of Chronic Disease Patient Organizations.
“Officially, the goal is to align with international standards, (…) but in reality, thousands of people with chronic diseases or disabilities fear that they will be “cured” from the pen – that is, removed from the lists of beneficiaries by simply redefining the disability”, claim the representatives of the patients, in a statement.
The statement was signed by the Association of Patients with Autoimmune Diseases, the National Alliance for Rare Diseases, the National Council on Disability, the Association of Patients with Neurodegenerative Diseases and the Coalition of Chronic Disease Patient Organizations.
NGOs that defend patients' rights state that “instead of bringing more equity, the reform risks becoming a statistical cosmetic operation: the number of people with disabilities will artificially decrease, and the state budget will “save” precisely at the expense of the most vulnerable.”
According to them, “the real measure of a civilization is not seen in GDP or economic growth graphs, but in how it treats its vulnerable citizens – the children, the elderly and the sick.”
They charge that “instead of empathy and responsibility, decision-makers chose paper economy and bureaucratic efficiency.”
“It's a form of institutional cynicism: the state protects its privileges, but “heals” the sick by simply changing a legislative annex,” claim the patient associations.
