The Public Attorney’s Office on Tuesday asked the Department of Justice to also prosecute Health Secretary Francisco Duque for obstruction of justice, in connection with the children’s alleged deaths due to the controversial Dengvaxia vaccine.
In a complaint, PAO forensics expert Erwin Erfe accused the Department of Health of damaging internal organs of children who are believed to have died due to the Dengvaxia anti-dengue vaccine.
Erfe revealed that they noticed that children’s internal organs were damaged when they conducted a re-autopsy on the victims.
He even cited that one of the victims had a missing appendix.
The PAO forensic expert noted that the children with damaged and missing internal organs were autopsied by the DoH.
According to Erfe, the DoH had allegedly discouraged hospitals from allowing PAO to conduct autopsies on Dengvaxia recipients who have died.
In filing the complaint, the PAO officials brought along with them the family of suspected Dengvaxia victim 13-year-old Abbie Hedia.
PAO earlier said that Hedia died last Feb. 7 after she was given a shot of Dengvaxia on Nov. 17, 2017, almost a week after Duque was appointed as DoH secretary.
Last week, the PAO filed a complaint of reckless imprudence resulting to homicide and violating the Anti-Torture Act against Duque before the DoJ.
Also impleaded in the complaint were former Health secretary Janette Garin, officials of Sanofi Pasteur and Dengvaxia distributor Zuellig Pharma and several other DoH officials.
Duque lamented the filing of charges against him, saying the Dengvaxia-related complaints against him is “counterproductive” and “malicious and oppressive.” He had also threatened to file counter charges.
Duque insisted that he could not be held liable in Dengvaxia-related cases because he was not the DoH’s chief when the dengue immunization program was rolled out in April 2016. He said he did not sign any orders on the Dengvaxia immunization.
He questioned the absence of former Health secretary Paulyn Jean Rosell-Ubial’s name in the charge sheet.
Duque ordered a stop in the dengue immunization program in December last year after Sanofi Pasteur issued an advisory that Dengvaxia should not be given to people who have not been afflicted by dengue.