A federal judge in Pernambuco has given Brazil’s Attorney General’s Office, the AGU, 30 days to clarify and amend a lawsuit seeking at least R$1 billion in collective moral damages from 17 licensed betting operators, alongside recovery of gambling-related public-health costs.
The suit, filed Sept. 28 in the Federal Court of Pernambuco under case No. 0074433-17.2026.4.05.8300, also seeks reimbursement of Unified Health System, or SUS, spending over the preceding five years and future expenses. It asks for double restitution of wagers made by people diagnosed with gambling addiction.
Judge Helio Silvio Ourem Campos signed his order the following day. BNLData reported that he required the government to explain objectively how each defendant’s activity allegedly generated the SUS costs claimed, and to provide objective criteria for apportioning responsibility among operators, particularly under a market-share approach.
The court also wants the AGU to specify the health conditions covered, how they would be identified and the exact period at issue, including any future losses. It must identify the SUS expenditure categories in its calculation, clarify whether transfers to states and municipalities are included, and set out its data sources, budget lines and methodology.
That includes explaining the proposed use of the Population Attributable Fraction, an epidemiological tool associated in the reporting with estimating the share of disease attributable to smoking. Judge Campos said more detail was needed to define the claim properly and allow an adversarial process. He also ordered the AGU to correct or explain references in its filing to diseases attributable to cigarettes.
The wording points to a tobacco-litigation model. The AGU sued cigarette manufacturers in 2019 to seek recovery of SUS costs, while the court’s questions in the betting case focus on establishing a causal link between individual licensed operators and health-system spending.
The government has said it does not seek to declare state-authorized betting illegal. The defendants are authorised by the Finance Ministry’s Prizes and Betting Secretariat, according to BNLData.
The AGU argues that the companies violated human dignity and protections for families and vulnerable people. Folha reported that the statutory health transfer from the industry, set at 0.12% of revenue, raised R$50 million in the last cycle, which the government says is insufficient to cover the costs.
Preliminary Health Ministry research cited in the case estimated at least R$2.6 billion in SUS losses or treatment spending linked to betting addiction. The eventual amount is to be determined at the judgment-enforcement stage. Ministry data also showed treatment related to pathological gambling and betting problems rising by about 140% from 2018 to 2025.
Separately, the Health Ministry cited an Institute for Health Policy Studies estimate of R$38.8 billion in annual gambling-related social costs, including R$30.6 billion attributed to health impacts. Those broader annual estimates are distinct from the SUS reimbursement sought in the Pernambuco action.
The court had not ruled on the AGU’s injunction request when the latest reporting was published. Once the government submits an amended petition, Judge Campos will review the case again. Meanwhile, operators previously authorised in Brazil are due to take their betting sites and apps offline from Oct. 6 under President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s Sept. 25 provisional measure prohibiting fixed-odds sports betting and online gaming nationwide.
