A GROUP consisting of relatives and parents of children whose deaths were linked to the anti-dengue jab Dengvaxia on Thursday declared support for the review of the court’s decision to dismiss the initial batch of eight cases filed against former government officials and several others last year.
Sumachen Dominguez, leader of the Samahan ng mga Magulang ang mga Anak ay Biktima ng Dengvaxia, said her group supports the move of the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) to review the decision of Judge Cleto Villacorta III of Quezon City Regional Trial Court Branch 229, outrightly dismissing the charges.
In filing the petition for review on certiorari, the OSG said Villacorta committed “grave abuse of discretion amounting to lack or excess of jurisdiction in issuing the assailed orders granting respondents’ demurrers to evidence and denying petitioner’s subsequent motions for reconsideration despite the overwhelming evidence on records against respondents vis-a-vis well-established jurisprudence on the matter.”
The OSG said it would question Villacorta’s ruling that no evidence was found to prove that the phase 3 clinical trials of the vaccine were incomplete, adding the judge refused to give credence to the petitioner’s expert witnesses and their findings.
The vaccine was procured by the Department of Health for P3.5 billion for a nationwide vaccination campaign.
The OSG added that the death of eight children could have been prevented had the vaccine’s safety and efficacy been carefully evaluated.
“And there should not have been any Dengvaxia-related cases with the parents continuously seeking justice for their children,” Solicitor General Menardo Guevarra said in the petition.
Among the respondents were former health secretary and now Iloilo Rep. Janette Garin, top executives of vaccine manufacturer Sanofi Pasteur Inc. and vaccine distributor Zuellig Pharma, as well as officials of the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine, Philippine Children’s Medical Center, and Food and Drug Administration.
A total of 35 cases were filed against the respondents.
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