DOJ inilarga ang kaso vs Garin sa Dengvaxia deaths

Nahaharap si dating Health secretary at kasalukuyang Iloilo Representative Janette Garin sa karagdagang kaso kaugnay sa diumano’y pananagutan niya sa pagkamatay ng mga batang tinurukan ng Dengvaxia anti-dengue vaccine.

Inanunsiyo ni Department of Justice (DOJ) Assistant Secretary Neal Bainto nitong Biyernes na naglabas ang panel of prosecutors noong Miyerkules ng 78-pahinang resolusyon na nakitaan ng sapat na batayan para kasuhan si Garin at mga kapwa niya akusado ng reckless imprudence resulting to homicide para sa pagkamatay ng walong bata na bumubuo ng second batch ng Dengvaxia complaints.

“Similar to the Resolution on the first batch of Dengvaxia vaccine cases, the Panel found that there was ‘inexcusable lack of precaution’ on the part of Garin and the other respondent government officials in the ‘fast-tracking of the procurement process’ for the Dengvaxia Vaccine despite being aware of its low efficacy results and potential risks associated with its use,” saad sa pahayag ni Bainto.

“The Panel 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 the other respondents, amounted to Reckless Imprudence,” sinabi rin niya.

Sa ilalim ng Revised Penal Code, binanggit ni Bainto na “the penalty for reckless imprudence resulting to homicide is imprisonment of up to six years for each count.”

Ang mga kakasuhan kasama ni Garin ay mga dati at kasalukuyang opisyal ng Department of Health (DOH), na sina Dr. Vicente Belizario Jr., Dr. Kenneth Hartigan-Go, Dr. Gerardo Bayugo, Dr. Lyndon Lee Suy, Dr. Irma Asuncion, Dr. Julius Lecciones, Dr. Joyce Ducusin, Rosalind Vianzon, at Mario Baquilod.

Sinabi rin ni Bainto na kakasuhan din ang “officials of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM), and Sonifi Pasteur, Inc. (Sanofi), for reckless imprudence resulting to homicide.”

Bukod dito, nakakita ang panel ng “sufficient evidence” para kasuhan ang president at apat na executives ng Sanofi sa paglabag sa Consumer Act of the Philippines sa pag-manufacture ng Dengvaxia vaccine “which poses certian risks to seronegatives, or to those who have not previously contracted the Dengue disease.”

“The Panel found that Sanofi indirectly admitted that Dengvaxia is a defective product due to the risk it poses to seronegatives, or to those who have not previously contracted the Dengue disease,” sinabi ng opisyal ng DOJ.

Ang second batch ng complaints ay may kaugnayan sa mga pagkamatay ng mg abating sina Roshaine Carino, Christine Joy Asuncion, Clarissa Alcantara, Erico Mendoza Leabres, Christine Mae de Guzman, John Paul Rafael, Michael Tablate, at Naomi Nimura.