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Justice for Tiago!
José S.
started this petition to
José Tiago Sousa
My name is
José Tiago Sousa. I am a Portuguese citizen, a humanitarian, and an activist. I
am writing because staying silent about what happened to me would, in itself,
be a form of complicity.
Between
2019 and 2022, I was subjected to two psychiatric hospitalizations that, I believe,
had no legitimate clinical or legal justification.
What happened during and after those hospitalizations has changed my life — not because of any mental illness, but because of what was done to me inside institutions that were supposed to protect me. During my hospitalization in June 2022, following contact with Hospital São Francisco Xavier, I was prescribed psychiatric medication that caused drug-induced Parkinsonism. My hospital records document this clearly.
I suffered severe muscular rigidity, impaired movement, and episodes of temporary paralysis. I could barely move or function normally. These symptoms only began to improve after my medication was reduced and I received biperiden — a reversal documented formally on 1 July 2022. This was never a symptom of mental illness. It was a preventable, predictable adverse reaction that should never have occurred.
The physical consequences did not end there. I now live with chronic fatigue, ongoing chemical dependency, and significant dental damage that required roughly one hundred procedures, costing an estimated €7,450. These are permanent consequences of decisions made without proper safeguards, without my informed consent, and without accountability.
On 1 June 2022, I was physically assaulted by a nurse and guards at Hospital Magalhães Lemos. The day before, at Hospital São Francisco Xavier, I was deliberately placed near COVID-19 patients — an action I believe was meant to block my access to legal assistance. I have formally requested access to security camera footage that may confirm what occurred.
During my first hospitalization in February 2019 — which occurred during a nurses’ strike and was based on an assessment written by a trainee doctor — false statements about alcohol and drug use were entered into my medical file. These statements are categorically untrue. Both of my parents have provided written declarations confirming that I did not use any substances. These falsified records did not remain in a single file. They followed me through the entire health system, influenced clinical decisions, and were used to justify coercive treatment. They continue to undermine my credibility today. This may be the most insidious harm of all: when false words on a page become more powerful than your lived reality.
My case is currently under criminal investigation by the Porto District Public Prosecutor’s Office. But an investigation alone is not enough. The European Committee for the Prevention of Torture has repeatedly warned that psychiatric patients in involuntary or closed settings are especially vulnerable — to physical violence, inappropriate medication, neglect, falsified records, and the erosion of legal protections disguised as treatment. I am not asking for revenge. I am asking for what should be guaranteed to every human being: the right to have the truth recognized, the right to have harmful records corrected, and the right to live without being permanently defined by a lie written in a moment of institutional carelessness — or worse, deliberate…
I am asking you to stand with me — not just for my sake, but for every patient who has ever been silenced by the very system that was meant to care for them. Seven years have passed. I continue because silence would mean accepting that what happened was normal. It was not. Confronting it is a matter of dignity, justice, and our shared responsibility as human beings.
José Tiago Sousa
josetiagosousa95@gmail.com
What happened during and after those hospitalizations has changed my life — not because of any mental illness, but because of what was done to me inside institutions that were supposed to protect me. During my hospitalization in June 2022, following contact with Hospital São Francisco Xavier, I was prescribed psychiatric medication that caused drug-induced Parkinsonism. My hospital records document this clearly.
I suffered severe muscular rigidity, impaired movement, and episodes of temporary paralysis. I could barely move or function normally. These symptoms only began to improve after my medication was reduced and I received biperiden — a reversal documented formally on 1 July 2022. This was never a symptom of mental illness. It was a preventable, predictable adverse reaction that should never have occurred.
The physical consequences did not end there. I now live with chronic fatigue, ongoing chemical dependency, and significant dental damage that required roughly one hundred procedures, costing an estimated €7,450. These are permanent consequences of decisions made without proper safeguards, without my informed consent, and without accountability.
On 1 June 2022, I was physically assaulted by a nurse and guards at Hospital Magalhães Lemos. The day before, at Hospital São Francisco Xavier, I was deliberately placed near COVID-19 patients — an action I believe was meant to block my access to legal assistance. I have formally requested access to security camera footage that may confirm what occurred.
During my first hospitalization in February 2019 — which occurred during a nurses’ strike and was based on an assessment written by a trainee doctor — false statements about alcohol and drug use were entered into my medical file. These statements are categorically untrue. Both of my parents have provided written declarations confirming that I did not use any substances. These falsified records did not remain in a single file. They followed me through the entire health system, influenced clinical decisions, and were used to justify coercive treatment. They continue to undermine my credibility today. This may be the most insidious harm of all: when false words on a page become more powerful than your lived reality.
My case is currently under criminal investigation by the Porto District Public Prosecutor’s Office. But an investigation alone is not enough. The European Committee for the Prevention of Torture has repeatedly warned that psychiatric patients in involuntary or closed settings are especially vulnerable — to physical violence, inappropriate medication, neglect, falsified records, and the erosion of legal protections disguised as treatment. I am not asking for revenge. I am asking for what should be guaranteed to every human being: the right to have the truth recognized, the right to have harmful records corrected, and the right to live without being permanently defined by a lie written in a moment of institutional carelessness — or worse, deliberate…
I am asking you to stand with me — not just for my sake, but for every patient who has ever been silenced by the very system that was meant to care for them. Seven years have passed. I continue because silence would mean accepting that what happened was normal. It was not. Confronting it is a matter of dignity, justice, and our shared responsibility as human beings.
José Tiago Sousa
josetiagosousa95@gmail.com
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