(Portugal) What is the story behind this trend in Social Media today?
30-09-2026
The main topic generating widespread conversation on Portuguese social media today revolves around formal charges announced in a long-running controversy known as the twins case.In 2019 and 2020, two young twin girls of dual Portuguese-Brazilian nationality who suffer from spinal muscular atrophy received doses of an extremely expensive gene therapy drug at a Lisbon public hospital. The medication cost around two million euros per child. The girls were not resident in Portugal at the time and did not have the usual patient registration number.Prosecutors have now charged four people. The mother of the twins faces an aggravated fraud accusation. Three others the son of the former President of the Republic, a former junior health minister, and a former clinical director of the hospital face charges of misconduct in public office and abuse of power. The accusation states that influence was used to bypass normal appointment rules so the girls could receive the treatment.The former President has publicly stated that no one is above the law and described his personal situation with his son as painful. The son’s lawyer has rejected the charges as unfounded. The mother has said she never needed to break the law to care for her daughters.The story has revived earlier parliamentary inquiries and media investigations from previous years, prompting debate about whether political or family connections played a role in access to scarce and costly public healthcare resources. Discussions mix questions of fairness, the cost of rare-disease treatments, and the limits of influence in public institutions.Other active conversations include ongoing drama inside a popular reality television house and preparations and injuries surrounding the national football team, but the twins case currently dominates news-driven talk.