MANILA – The Department of Justice (DOJ) has found probable cause to again charge former Department of Health (DOH) secretary Janette Garin (now Iloilo 1st District congresswoman) in connection with the controversial anti-dengue vaccine Dengvaxia.
DOJ prosecutors said yesterday Garin and nine other former officials of DOH, Food and Drug Administration, Research Institute for Tropical Medicine, and Sanofi Pasteur, Inc. should be prosecuted for reckless imprudence resulting to homicide.
The indictments were for the second batch of complaints filed by parents of children who died allegedly after being inoculated with Dengvaxia.
“The panel [of prosecutors] concluded that the accomplishment of the procurement process for the Dengvaxia vaccine, with undue haste, within a limited timeframe, and despite the red flags known to Garin and other respondents, amounted to reckless imprudence,” according to the DOJ.
The Justice department also said state prosecutors indicted the president of Sanofi Pasteur for violating the Consumer Act of the Philippines “for manufacturing the Dengvaxia vaccine which poses certain risks to seronegatives, or to those who have not previously contracted the dengue disease.”
Garin and several others were previously indicted over similar charges in the first batch of complaints.
The previous Aquino administration initiated the nationwide Dengvaxia immunization program in the summer of 2016, purchasing P3.5 billion in Dengvaxia vaccines for a million public school children in regions reported to have the highest incidence of dengue. Garin was then the DOH secretary.
In December 2017, DOH stopped the program after Sanofi Pasteur said Dengvaxia might increase the risk of severe dengue in recipients who had not contracted the mosquito-borne disease. At the time, over 800,000 school children had been vaccinated already.
Garin, in a statement last night, said she is ready to face the charges and expressed confidence these would also be dismissed.
“Haharapin ko ito ng buong tapang at
walang takot dahil alam natin ang katotohanan,” Garin said. “The dismissal of six out
of seven cases before only showed that these lacked substance and basis.”
Garin, a physician, also said it has been proven by science that no deaths were
linked to the Dengvaxia vaccine.
“Hustisya bang matatawag na hayaan nating mamatay ang mga kababayan natin sa sakit na mayroon namang bakuna o gamot?” Garin asked.
On the other hand, Public Affairs Office chief Persida Acosta who filed the charges said the findings of the DOJ panel proved that the evidences her office gathered against the respondents were strong.
“The evidences presented were overwhelming,” Acosta said. “The Dengvaxia victims expected full indictment and prosecution at the proper court with jurisdiction.”/PN
