Senators want Sanofi to compensate affected individuals

MANILA, Philippines — Reimbursement is not enough.

Two senators stressed this point Tuesday, urging the Dengvaxia manufacturer Sanofi Pasteur to also provide compensation to the children affected by the controversial vaccine on top of the reimbursement of P1.4 billion worth of unused vaccines.

Sen. Risa Hontiveros said that Sanofi should bear all the legal and ethical responsibilities that have resulted from the “firm’s negligence.”

“There was clear negligence and the responsible thing to do is for Sanofi to see to the health needs of the affected and compensate their families for the harm they have caused. Regaining the trust of the public is a far more important investment,” she said.

Hontiveros added: “Even pending the result of the evaluation by medical experts on whether or not the deaths were caused by Dengvaxia, it is clear that Sanofi, of its own admission, is guilty of implementing an immunization program that could do more harm than good to our children.”

Senate Blue Ribbon committee chair Sen. Richard Gordon, moreover, proposed that the pharmaceutical giant should establish a compensation and monitoring fund.

“Sanofi should make provisions for the people, both children and adults, who were injected with the vaccine, for the monitoring and hospitalization of the individuals affected,” he said.

Gordon noted that Sanofi should repeat what it did in 2016 when a compensation fund was created after a class suit had been filed against the company. The firm was accused of manufacturing products that may have created birth malformations and developmental disorders.

Health Secretary Francisco Duque III earlier demanded Sanofi to conduct serotesting of more than 830,000 individuals who were immunized by Dengvaxia to determine their pre-vaccination status, but maintained that the cost should be shouldered by the company.

The department halted its dengue vaccination program following the disclosure of Sanofi that Dengvaxia poses potential risk to those who had no prior dengue infection.

The mass vaccination program was introduced by former Health Secretary Janette Garin.

READ: Sanofi Pasteur to refund DOH for unused Dengvaxia

Related video: