Philippines may file case vs Sanofi in France — Health Secretary Francisco Duque III

MANILA, Philippines — Health Secretary Francisco Duque III is not discounting the possibility of filing a case against Dengvaxia manufacturer Sanofi Pasteur in France where the company’s headquarters are located. 

Duque said it is possible to file a civil suit against Sanofi in a French court to hold the company accountable for the Dengvaxia fiasco.

“It will be for non-disclosure of material facts that could have changed the outcome of the controversy. They should be held accountable,” he noted.  

The health chief is set to discuss the plan with Solicitor General Jose Calida.

Duque added had Sanofi been transparent, the dengue vaccination program using Dengvaxia would not have been launched.

Currently, the Office of Solicitor General, on behalf of the Department of Health (DOH) is preparing to file a civil suit against Sanofi in a local court for selling a “defective product” to the department.

According to Duque, Sanofi had violated provisions of its contract with the DOH and the Civil Code. 

The health chief, however, could not ascertain when the case will be filed.

“If we have our way, we want the case filed soon. But we have to make sure that our case is airtight,” he said.

DOH Undersecretary Eric Domingo said they have already documented 62 or 63 school children who were vaccinated with Dengvaxia and subsequently died. 

Of this, the cases of the 31 children have already been submitted to the panel of experts at the University of the Philippines-Philippine General Hospital for analysis, whether or not their deaths were caused by the vaccination.

Domingo added that 14 of the 31 cases were the ones previous evaluated by the experts.