Class suit over dengue vaccine possible — Duque

MANILA, Philippines — Amid fears brought by dengue vaccine Dengvaxia, Health Secretary Francisco Duque III yesterday raised the possibility that private individuals may file a class suit against those responsible for the program.

The legal team of the Department of Health (DOH) is now scrutinizing the agency’s contract with Sanofi Pasteur, according to Duque, but private individuals can lodge complaints against those whom they believe should be held accountable for the vaccine program.

“I heard that a class suit will be filed on behalf of the vaccinated children… On our part, our legal service is studying this and then they will make recommendation to the executive committee of the DOH,” he said in a radio interview.

But Duque gave assurance the DOH will hold Sanofi Pasteur accountable for the mess created by Dengvaxia, especially if it is found that it concealed information about the vaccine.

“When we establish th at they did not disclose any important information early on, we will go after them. We will hold them responsible and we will file appropriate cases,” he noted.

The health chief reiterated that the DOH is looking at getting back the P3.5 billion they paid to Sanofi Pasteur for the vaccines.

He added that they are also studying the possibility of returning almost one million unused vaccines set to expire either in 2018 or 2019.

When asked about Duque’s plan to demand a refund, Sanofi Pasteur general manager Ching Santos refused to make a commitment.

“We are not yet on that and I hope we won’t get to that point. Just to reiterate the fact, the vaccine actually has its value… We don’t want to preempt whatever decision the DOH will make,” she said.

Santos added that the company will discuss with the DOH whatever decision it will have and “come up with a win-win situation.”

Lawyer urges parents to file class suit

As this developed, a prominent lawyer yesterday urged parents of pupils who got anti-dengue shots to file a class suit against Sanofi and government officials responsible for the vaccination program.

In an interview with The STAR, Ernesto Francisco, who is also the legal counsel of Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV, said Sanofi and the officials should also be made to put up a trust fund for the vaccinated Filipino children.

“I urge other lawyers to take on this class suit pro bono for the sake of the Filipino children and so this will not be repeated,” he said.

Francisco said “medical professionals and lawyers should join forces for this worthy cause. Philippine government officials responsible should be made to account as well.”

While he did not propose any amount for the trust fund, Francisco said it “should be in such amount to cover the possible medication of 700,000 Filipino children.”

The DOH said some 700,000 public schoolchildren were given their first shots of the Dengvaxia vaccine in April last year. The initial plan was to give each child a series of three doses, but the DOH has shelved the plan.

It has turned out, however, that at least in Pampanga, over 42,000 public school pupils have been given all three doses of the vaccine.

An official of the Department of Education in Pampanga said that while consent of the children’s parents was obtained first, they were not informed about the experimental nature of the vaccine.

Figures obtained by The STAR from the Provincial Health Office said the third and final doses of Dengvaxia were administered earlier this year to 32,210 pupils in the DepEd division of Pampanga, 6,855 pupils in Angeles City and 4,691 pupils in San Fernando. Figures from the division of Mabalacat City were not immediately available. – With Ding Cervantes, Mayen Jaymalin