In the closing arguments of the civil case taking place at the Faro Court, Francisco Teixeira da Mota expressed confidence that Diana Pereira will be acquitted of defamation in a lawsuit filed by Gildásio Martins dos Santos.
The director of the Surgery Service at the time of the events is seeking 172,000 euros in damages, accusing the doctor of “tarnishing his good name and reputation” by reporting the case on social media, as well as statements made to the press.
“I do not believe she [Diana Pereira] will pay a single euro, but the person who filed the lawsuit did so with intention. It aims to intimidate, to teach everyone that anyone who wants to report a doctor is in trouble,” argued the lawyer.
The plaintiff’s lawyer, Paulo de Sá e Cunha, argued that the surgeon suffered moral and financial damages, entering a “state of suffering and depression due to the exposure” caused by the defendant’s actions and the “widespread dissemination.”
The prosecution’s lawyer criticized the way Diana Pereira reported the case, opting to go directly to the Judiciary Police instead of filing an internal complaint, which she later “echoed on social media,” an action he described as “unlawful.”
Paulo de Sá e Cunha further criticized the defense’s invocation of the general whistleblower protection regime, rejecting that this is a public health issue since the matter concerns the individual rights of the patients.
“The status [of whistleblower protection] is not designed for situations diametrically opposed to the whistleblower’s desire for notoriety,” he claimed, highlighting that patients who suffered would be the ones with the legitimacy to report.
Francisco Teixeira da Mota argued that reporting such situations “must be protected,” otherwise people would live “in fear,” adding that it’s “very easy” to file a 172,000 euro lawsuit.
“She [Diana Pereira] is a young woman who was shocked by what she found [at Faro Hospital], and to be punished for that is to invert all values,” he stated, reminding that the doctor never claimed Martins dos Santos was a bad surgeon.
Diana Pereira is on trial for defamation after reporting 11 cases of alleged surgical malpractice at Faro Hospital in 2023.
Three of the patients involved in the allegedly incorrect surgical procedures ultimately died, while the others sustained bodily injuries.
