November 10, 2020 - milena

The use of the social name by transgender patients

In the Brazilian legal system, the regulation of the transgender person's right to correct identification through their name began to have clearer contours in 2016, with the enactment of Decree No. recognition of the gender identity of transvestites and transgender people within the scope of the federal public administration. Here is the regulation:

“Art. 3 The records of information systems, records, programs, services, files, forms, medical records and the like of bodies and entities of the direct federal, autarchic and foundational public administration must contain the field “corporate name” in highlighted, accompanied by the civil name, which will be used only for internal administrative purposes”.

In consultations carried out within the scope of the Unified Health System, the Ministry of Health advised managers[1] that in the case of transsexuals and transvestites, the social name, date of birth, card number and barcode must be included on the SUS card, omitting the civil name and sex of birth.

However, the complete data of the user, which includes the civil name, must be kept in the database of the National Health Card and in the bar code. This guarantees the validity of information registration and preserves the user's identification, without exposure to embarrassing or vexatious situations.

It is also worth mentioning that since the judgment of ADI 4275/DF by the Federal Supreme Court, which took place in 2018, the constitutionality of the right to protection of the identity and name of the transgender person has been recognized.

Thus, although there is still no specific regulation that guides the completion of this type of data in exams, the existing set of regulations today points to the use of the name that the patient understands as appropriate (social name) in all their identifications (label, images, reports), if requested by him, keeping the complete information in the internal register, so that it is possible to identify him.

The adoption of this attitude allows avoiding the occurrence of situations of discrimination and violence against the patient's dignity, in spaces whose main characteristic is the promotion and protection of health.

[1] Technical Note No. 18/2014

CBR Legal Advice