FORMER Health Secretary Esperanza Cabral has accused the Public Attorney’s Office of sowing fear and panic among the public by allegedly sensationalizing the Dengvaxia vaccine controversy.
In an interview on Unang Balita on Tuesday, Cabral clarified the Doctors for Public Welfare did not want to stop the autopsy on alleged Dengvaxia victims.
She said the group only wanted other agencies to conduct the autopsy, instead of the PAO.
Meanwhile, Senator JV Ejercito urged all government agencies especially the PAO to cooperate in the ongoing investigations on the Dengvaxia controversy, raising concern the case might be dragged before an international court.
The issue here, Ejercito said, is that if the matter reaches an international court between the Philippines and French drug firm Sanofi Pasteur, we will have an “air tight case.”
“We should help each other, not that we don’t want. How will it be if technical experts are needed to look at the evidence,” said Ejerciro, chair of the Senate committee on health and demography.
Ejercito was referring to PAO officials who were a no-show in the Senate Blue Ribbon committee fifth hearing on the anti-dengue vaccine controversy.
He had requested Blue Ribbon committee chairman Senator Richard Gordon to issue a subpoena to ensure their presence in the next hearig on the P3.5- billion dengue immunizatiin program on Feb. 21.
“In line with the chairman’s quest for truth, this representation feels that their findings will be significant and also what we want is for government agencies to work together,” Ejercito told the panel. Gordon acceded to his request.
A civil case had been filed against 31 respondents, including the board of directors and officials of Sanofi and Sanofi’s local distributorZuellig Pharma Corp.
Also included are former Health Secretary Janette Garin, resigned Health Undersecretaries Kenneth Hartigan-Go and Vicente Belizario Jr., Health Undersecretary Gerardo Bayugo, and other senior DOH officials
Eariier, Ejercito told the PAO to let the experts do their job and perform the autopsies on children who are believed to have died because of the Dengvaxia vaccine.
He said PAO should leave the investigation on the death of the 14 children, who were administered with the vaccine, to experts of the University of the Philippines-Philippine General Hospital.
They supported the stand of former Health Secretary Esperanza Cabral and her group, Doctors for Public Welfare, who questioned the autopsies being performed by the PAO on the children.
He expressed apprehension over the diagnosis by PAO forensic expert Dr. Erwin Erfe linking the deaths of all autopsied children to Dengvaxia.
He said the PGH’s forensic pathologists review on 14 dead children determined that the deaths were not linked to the anti-dengue vaccine.
He warned contradicting reviews might add to public’s “hysteria” and “panic.”
“I don’t downplay PAO, I commend their effort, but let us not commit a mistake,” clarified Ejercito.
He also called on Sanofi to heed the appeal of the Department of Health to put an indemnity fund to help the victims.
“My appeal to Sanofi—while they already reiumbursed the unused [vaccines], but it should also be their responsibility to set up an indemnity fund to shoulder the expenses if it can be proven that somebody got sick or died [of dengvaxia],” said Ejercito.
