Tuesday, August 29, 2006
Firm to apologize over meningococcemia ad slur
THE distributor of an anti-meningococcemia vaccine facing a P3-million damage suit filed by the City Government has sought a compromise agreement via the issuance of a public apology and a rectification of the advertisement it posted in a Manila newspaper four months ago.
City Legal Officer Melchor Carlos Rabanes said he and Councilor Perlita Chan-Rondez are formulating a counter-proposal to the proposal of Global Vaccine Xpress (Glovax) before a final agreement is reached.
This as the preliminary conference was reset on September 7 and the pre-trial on September 14.
In a proposed public apology, Glovax said they never intended to cast malice and stigma and that there was no meningococcemia outbreak contrary to the advertisement that came out in the April 2 and 10 issues of the Philippine Star.
The apology, however, has to pass through approval of the mayor and the City Council, Rabanes explained.
The Bureau of Food and Drugs (Bfad), meanwhile, will take charge of the findings that Glovax is not a license distributor of the anti-meningococcemia vaccine, he added.
The City Government charged Glovax for violation of Articles 19, 20 and 21 of the Civil Code.
But the drug firm denied the city's allegations, including the posting of the April 2 advertisement with the text "Wherever you go, viruses are waiting to welcome you! Such as meningococcemia, which can kill you in 24 hours," used as background the images of Kennon Road Lion's Head and the Ifugao Rice Terraces. It also sought P250,000 from the City Government, representing litigation expenses.
Elected officials in the region, led by Representatives Mauricio Domogan of Baguio and Solomon Chungalao of Ifugao, the City Council and the Provincial Board (PB) of Ifugao, earlier demanded a public apology from Glovax. (RO)
(August 29, 2006 issue)
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