Hontiveros, Gordon say Sanofi should provide compensation to kids vaccinated with Dengvaxia

Senators Risa Hontiveros and Richard Gordon on Tuesday called on Sanofi Pasteur to provide compensation to all children given the Dengvaxia vaccine over and above its commitment to reimburse the government of P1.4 billion for the unused vaccine.

In a statement, Hontiveros said the ethical response for Sanofi is to do more than reimbursement.

"Reimbursement is not enough. Over and above its plan to pay back the government for unused Dengvaxia vials, I call on Sanofi to shoulder the health needs of the affected children and compensate their families,” she said.

“Even pending the result of the evaluation by medical experts on whether or not the deaths were caused by Dengvaxia, it is clear that Sanofi, of its own admission, is guilty of implementing an immunization program that could do more harm than good to our children,” Hontiveros added.

The Dengvaxia vaccine became controversial after Sanofi advised against prescribing the vaccine to patients who have not been infected by the virus in the past, since it was found that it may cause severe dengue in the long run.

“There was clear negligence, and the responsible thing to do is for Sanofi to see to the health needs of the affected and compensate their families for the harm they have caused. Regaining the trust of the public is a far more important investment," Hontiveros said.

On Monday, Sanofi said it will reimburse the Philippine government for the P1.4 billion unused stock of dengue vaccine Dengvaxia stored at Department of Health (DOH) warehouses.

Senator Richard Gordon, chairman of the Senate Blue Ribbon committee, meanwhile said Sanofi should establish and put up a compensation and monitoring fund for the people administered with the Dengvaxia vaccine.

“Sanofi should make provisions for the people, both children and adults, who were injected with the vaccine, for the monitoring and hospitalization and in the case of death, to provide full support to the families,” Gordon said in a separate statement.

Gordon’s committee will conduct its fourth hearing on January 22 on the Dengvaxia controversy to tackle the issues on the undue haste of procuring the vaccines and the accountability of the Office of the President, the DOH, the Food and Drug Administration, the Department of Budget and Management, and other agencies that may be involved. —KBK, GMA News