Sanofi’s refund is suspect

ANOFI - sure and agreed to refund the cost of the unused vials of its ineffective anti-dengue vaccine Dengvaxia. The public would normally welcome such statement as a sign the offending party was taking responsibility for its faults. Such is not the case with the French pharmaceutical giant.

to a refund not because of safety or quality issues with its anti-dengue vaccine, which could worsen the disease for those with no prior history of dengue.

- low us to be able to work more openly and constructively with the DoH ( Department of Health) to address the negative tone towards the dengue vaccine in the Philippines today,” it said.

- derstanding.”

with the dengue vaccine and a lack of awareness amongst the general public, particularly parents of vaccinated remains positive in high endemic countries like the Philippines,” it said. The statement is disturbing on two points. willing to give a refund for the purpose of making sure it would continue to have a business relationship with the Philippine government.

mention any amount; media reports merely relied on the demand letter sent to the pharma giant last week.

enough for it to continue doing business with the government?

Given the scale of the scuttled anti-dengue vaccination program and the size of the Dengvaxia procurement, least be placed on probation.

the gargantuan problems its defective vaccine has caused.

public schoolchildren inoculated with Dengvaxia. But the mass anti-dengue vaccination program covered 837,000 children; it is not known how many of them had no prior history of dengue infection. They should all be tested, and

the entire problem on a misunderstanding. Worse, it thinks the solution is marketing and public relations – to reverse the “negative tone” of public opinion on the dengue vaccine.

is handling the Dengvaxia affair, which is probably why Senate President Aquilino Pimentel 3rd has called for a full, not partial refund, of the entire P3.5 billion the government spent on the anti-dengue shots.

Health Secretary Francisco Duque 3rd should heed this

In fact, any refund, partial or full, will not be enough. As medical treatment of all the children who were vaccinated.

Let it also not be forgotten – and this is the grave, original offense – that Dengvaxia had yet to undergo the vaccines to the government.

These trials should be exhausted given the health risks that Dengvaxia now poses. No one knows what other problems it could bring about, and we cannot afford to have another grievous, costly, or even fatal mistake surprising us later.