Interface Between Law, Evidence-Based Medicine, and Mental Health

Abstract

The article proposes an interdisciplinary approach between Law and Evidence-Based Medicine, focusing on mental health, arguing that the protection of the right to health must be guided simultaneously by human rights, human dignity, and the best available scientific evidence. First, the author presents Evidence-Based Medicine as a methodology for clinical decision-making grounded in rigorous research, systematic literature review, and critical appraisal of the quality of evidence, in contrast to mere intuition, unsystematic experience, or isolated academic authority. It then argues that this scientific rationality can and should contribute to Health Law, especially in health-related litigation and in the oversight of public policies, enabling decisions that are more rational, ethical, and committed to the effectiveness of the Brazilian Unified Health System. In the specific field of mental health, the study contextualizes the Brazilian psychiatric reform, deinstitutionalization, and the progressive replacement of the asylum model by community-based services, emphasizing the importance of evidence-based therapeutic assessments, including for supporting the Public Prosecution Service in cases of involuntary hospitalization and in the oversight of psychiatric care. In conclusion, it maintains that the interface between Law and Medicine requires a multi- and interdisciplinary stance, guided by ethics, communication between fields of knowledge, and the pursuit of public and judicial decisions capable of reconciling scientific rigor, citizenship, autonomy, and social justice.