‘Paper trail to pin down DOH execs’

THE Senate has obtained documents to prove that the Department of Health allowed Sanofi Pasteur to supply anti- dengue vaccines even if the pharmaceutical company has not completed its clinical trials and despite documentation “deficiencies,” Sen. Richard Gordon said on Sunday.

Gordon, chairman of the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee, said the documents, which were previously hidden from the Senate, will show the paper trail on if it failed to comply with the requirements needed for the vaccine’s approval. The documents, he added, - The senator said his panel obtained information that the DOH, then headed by Secretary Janette Garin, rolled out its massive dengue vaccination program The government vaccination program aimed to inoculate at least one million children with Dengvaxia, The Senate will resume its investigation of the

Dengvaxia controversy on Tuesday, Feb. 6.

“They are trying to hide the paper trail,” Gordon said in a radio interview. He did not elaborate.

He added that his committee will also show how deep Garin’s - nel of the department to follow

Gordon said the National Immunization Committee (NIC) was not consulted or tapped before the Health department implemented the anti-dengue immunization program.

While the Health secretary has the power to approve the use of a vaccine in the national immunization program, the recommendation should come from the NIC, Gordon said.

“It is either that these people followed Garin because they were their allies or they were pressured,” the senator added.

Gordon said the committee is related cases against former president Benigno Aquino 3rd, former Budget Secretary Florencio Abad and Garin.

He explained that they are liable for graft because there was an obvious haste to procure the vaccines.

More than 800,000 children were administered with Dengvaxia. Some of the children who were inoculated died and several investigative bodies are trying to determine if these deaths were linked to the anti-dengue vaccine.

The government suspended the immunization program late Dengvaxia may cause severe dengue on individuals who have not been exposed to the dengue virus.

Gordon said if it will be determined that there have been deaths conncted to Dengvaxia, could also face charges of reckless imprudence resulting in homicide.

VACC reacts

Also on Sunday, anti-crime advocates decried reported moves to discredit the Public Attorney’s autopsies conducted on several alleged casualties of Dengvaxia.

Dante Jimenez, chairman of the Volunteers Against Crime and PAO’s forensic team conducted autopsies on the bodies of children who died after being inoculated with the vaccine upon the request of the children’s families.

“We expect some efforts to discredit us and to discredit the victims, but we are not doing this for our own sake but for the sake of the victims who have lost trust to the DOH,” Jimenez told TheManilaTimes.

He added that the health department could only regain the trust of the public if the people who took part in the planning and implementation of the antidengue immunization program are punished.

Jimenez was responding to the call of doctors and health advocates on the Department of Justice (DOJ) to direct the PAO to cease performing autopsies and “leave the matter of determining the cause of death to competent forensic pathologists.”

The call was echoed by Sen. Joseph Victor “JV” Ejercito, chairman of the Senate Committee on Health and Demography, who believed that it would be better if the autopsies were conducted by the team of medical experts from the University of the Philippines-Philippine General Hospital (UP-PGH).

- ings of PAO, in fact, I commend their effort. But it is important that we do this right for us to prosecute those who are liable. Let the expert do their job,” Ejercito said in an interview aired over DZBB radio.

Familial prerogative

PAO’s forensic team has conducted autopsies on the bodies of 15 children inoculated by Dengvaxia and, in most of the cases, found that the victims died of dengue.

Chief Public Attorney Persida Rueda Acosta, meanwhile, argued that the call to subject the children’s bodies to autopsies may only be made by the alleged victims’ families.

“If the parents have trust on them, they may do the examination. The doctors do not own the bodies of the dead but their immediate relatives. So, the relatives are the proper parties who have the choice as to who will conduct the forensic examination,” Acosta explained.

She noted that those who have been moving to stop PAO from conducting autopsies could be held liable for obstruction of justice.

Parallel legislative probe

Meanwhile, the House Committee on Good Government and Public Accountability is set to resume its probe on the purchase of Dengvaxia today.

Rep. Johnny Pimentel of Surigao del Sur, chairperson of the follow-up study which showed that children who never had dengue but who were given the shots had an increased risk of a severe case and hospitalization from the third year after immunization.”

“Graft charges may be warranted they did not make any money for themselves from the transaction. accountable for corrupt and unlawful acts, such as entering into highly injurious purchase contracts, without any from the transaction,” he added.