Autopsy a right of bereaved family, says ex-DOH exec

Having the bodies of their dearly departed is a right of every family, a former undersecretary of the Department if Health said on Monday.

Dr. Susan Mercado made the remark amid calls for the Public Attorney's Office to stop its exhumation and autopsies of bodies of children who died after receiving doses of the controversial vaccine Dengvaxia.

"Sa aking pananaw lang ang autopsy ay karapatan ng pamilya. Kapag humihingi po ng autopsy ang isang pamilya, ibig sabihin po nito ay talagang desperado na sila," Mercado said in an interview on Balitanghali.

"Gusto na talaga nilang malaman kung ano talaga ang nangyari," she added.

"Ang mga bata po ay nailibing ng di nautopsy. So nung lumabas po ang balita na maaaring namatay ang bata dahil sila po ay di pa nagkaron ng dengue at ito po ay epekto ng dengvaxia, hindi po natin masisisi ang mga magulang na gusto nilang i-exhume o kunin ang mga bangkay at iautopsy ang mga bata dahil wala po silang tuldok sa kanilang dalamhati," Mercado said.

Some health experts and even lawmakers have called on the PAO to stop its forensic autopsies after it supposedly caused panic and fear.

PAO chief Attorney Persida Acosta, however, maintained that the autopsies would continue as part of the investigation on the dengue vaccine mess.

Mercado said the reaction of parents, especially mothers, was reasonable since they feel their children had been treated wrongly.

"Para sa akin ang panic at hysteria nanggagaling sa dalawang bagay. Una ang mga nanay ay talagang may napapansing kakaiba sa kanilang mga anak... Meron silang nakikitang problema sa kanilang anak, 'yun po ang cause," Mercado said.

"Maraming magulang ay nangangamba, marami sa kanila ay nagagalit. Totoo po 'yan, tunay po ang kanilang nararamdaman. Wala po silang politikang iniisip," she added.

Mercado said autopsies could also provide evidence on who should be held liable for certain deaths.

"Dalawa po dapat ang pananaw natin sa autopsy at ito po ay di magkalaban na pananaw. Para sa aming mga doktor, ang autopsy po ay part po 'yan ng medical care... Dahil po hindi natin alam kung bakit namatay ang isang tao, laging may duda sa ating isip na nagawa ba natin lahat," Mercado said..

"Autopsy as part of medical care po ay isang pananaw 'yun. Meron naman pong pananaw na ang autopsy ay ebidensya sa krimen, doon po pumapasok 'yung forensic na aspeto ng autopsy," she added.

The DOH stopped the government’s dengue immunization program on December 1 after Sanofi Pasteur admitted that Dengvaxia could result in severe disease in persons who had yet to contract dengue.

According to the DOH, more than 830,000 children, aged nine and above from public schools in Metro Manila, Central Luzon, Calabarzon, and Cebu, have been given Dengvaxia since its launch in 2016. —Anna Felicia Bajo/NB, GMA News