THE families of four schoolchildren are asking the Justice department to prosecute former Health secretary Janette Garin and 34 other health officials and executives of the manufacturer and supplier of the anti-dengue Dengvaxia vaccine.
They claim in their complaints that the vaccine caused the death of the children after they were inoculated with it. They accuse Garin and the other respondents of reckless imprudence resulting in homicide.
The complaints were filed by the families of Aejay Bautista, 11; Angelica Pestilos, 10; Lenard Baldonado, 10; and Zandro Colite, 11, through the assistance of the Public Attorney’s Office.
The Justice Department had earlier tasked the office to conduct a fact-finding investigation and build up cases on the criminal liabilities of the government personnel and private individuals over the children’s deaths.
The PAO lodged the charges after its forensic teams established that all four victims died of organ failures that could be attributed to the vaccine.