THE government will proceed with the conduct of autopsies on children who died from severe dengue after being inoculated with the controversial anti-dengue vaccine Dengvaxia, Malacañang said on Monday, February 5.
Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque Jr. said performing autopsies is crucial in discovering the truth, especially after the University of the Philippines-Philippine General Hospital (UP-PGH) found that three of 14 deaths may have been caused by Dengvaxia.
"Of the 14 cases, nine died of cases not related to dengue or the vaccine, two could not be ascertained due to lack of information, and three were diagnosed as dengue shock. Of the three, the two others who died with dengue shock ([syndrome) were considered as vaccine failures based on serology test," Roque told Palace reporters.
"We are flatly rejecting the call to stop autopsies. We will perform autopsies as they are required because we need to find the truth," he added.
As this developed, Dengvaxia manufacturer Sanofi Pasteur declined the administration’s plea for a full refund.
The Dengvaxia maker said agreeing to the proposed refund would imply that the vaccine is “ineffective, which is not the case.”
Roque slammed Sanofi’s latest pronouncement, stressing that it was not absolved yet since the investigations on the Dengvaxia mess are still ongoing.
“There is a complaint that they did not fully disclose the side effects of the vaccine. While the UP-PGH finding said that nine (deaths) are not Dengvaxia-related, it does not mean that they are not liable,” the Palace official said.
“They must be dreaming if they think they're off the hook. We’re just letting the investigation to be completed,” he added.
A group of doctors, scientists, health advocates, and academicians on February 3 urged the Department of Justice to stop the Public Attorney's Office (PAO) from performing autopsies on children who died after receiving the anti-dengue vaccine.
The group Doctors for Public Welfare called on the government to stop its “cruel act” of conducting autopsies.
“It makes no sense for nay more families to be subjected to the torture of having a loved one exhumed and cut up, only to find out that no useful information was derived from the cruel act,” the group said in a joint statement.
“We urge the Department of Justice to order PAO to stop performing autopsies on these children, and to leave the matter of determining the cause of death to competent forensic pathologist,” it added.
The UP-PGH was tapped by the Department of Health (DOH) last December to carry out an independent review on the probable cause of deaths purportedly linked to Dengvaxia.
Over 830,000 people have reportedly received Dengvaxia since it was launched during the Aquino administration.
The anti-dengue drive, however, has sown fears after Sanofi revealed that that recipients of the vaccine who have not previously contracted dengue might suffer from “severe” dengue.
Sanofi’s revelation had prompted the DOH to stop the vaccination program on December 1, 2017 and demand a full refund of the P3.5 billion spent on the Dengvaxia vaccine. (SunStar Philippines)