MANILA – State lawyers are set to decide soon whether to file before the courts the complaints in connection with children’s deaths attributed to the Dengvaxia anti-dengue vaccine.
This is after the Department of Justice (DOJ) panel completed the preliminary investigation into the controversy which has been submitted for resolution last Dec. 28.
Parents of the second batch of children – Roshaine Carino, Christine Joy Asuncion, Clarissa Alcantara, Erico Mendoza Leabres, Christine Mae de Guzman, John Paul Rafael, Michael Tablate, and Naomi Nimura – whose deaths are linked to the vaccine filed their complaints through their counsels from the Public Attorney’s Office last Oct. 15.
The complainants accused the respondents of reckless imprudence resulting to homicide under Article 365 of the Revised Penal Code; torture resulting in the death of a person in violation of Section 4 (ii) and (14) in relation to Section 14a (1) and (5) of the Anti-Torture Act of 2009; torture committed against children in violation of Section 15 of the Anti-Torture Act of 2009; defective product in violation of Article 97 in relation to Article 100, in relation of Article 107 of the Consumer Act of the Philippines; and mislabeled product in violation of Article 89 in relation to 95 of the Consumer Act of the Philippines.
Those named as respondents are former Health secretary Janette Garin and DOH officials 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 Viianzon, and Mario Baquilod.
Likewise named respondents were Food and Drug Administration officials Dr. Maria Lourdes Santiago and Melody Zamudio; officials of the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine, Drs. Socorro Lupisan, and Maria Rosario Capeding; and Philippine Children’s Medical Center (PCMC) official Dr. Sonia Gonzales and former official Dr. Raymundo Lo.
Sanofi Pasteur executives named as respondents were Carlito Realuyo, Stanislas Camart, Jean Louis Grunwald, Jean-Francois Vacherand, Conchita Santos, Jazel Anne Calvo, Pearl Grace Cabali, and Marie Esther De Antoni.
Also facing charges from Zuellig Pharma were Kasigod Jamias, Michael Becker, Ricardo Romulo, Imran Babar Chugtai, Rayumund Azurin, Nilo Badiola, John Stokes Davison, Marc Franck, Ashley Gerard Antonio, Ana Liza Peralta, Rosa Maria Chua, Danilo Cahoy, Manuel Concio III, Roland Goco, and Ma. Visitacion Barreiro. (With PNA/PN)
