MANILA, Philippines – Angeles City Mayor Edgardo Pamintuan wants French pharmaceutical company Sanofi Pasteur to pay for releasing the anti-dengue vaccine Dengvaxia which led to a public health crisis that affect thousands of his constituents.

This was announced by the local chief executive in a statement released on Monday night, December 11.

He said more than 6,000 9-year-old children in Angeles City got injected with Dengvaxia before Sanofi announced updates on its clinical tests, showing that the vaccine exposes the person to more severe dengue if he had not been infected before getting the shot. 

“I want to make sure the right legal measures are taken to compensate the damages done to those who received the vaccination, their parents, and to my beloved city,” Pamintuan said.

This comes as Philippine senators investigate the mess, with at least 3 former health secretaries being called to testify about what went wrong. The vaccines were purchased for P3.5 billion despite the lack of backing from Department of Health (DOH) experts and the World Health Organization. 

A Sanofi representative, Thomas Triomphe, defended his company during the hearing, saying that Dengvaxia could still prevent dengue.

In a press conference last week, the company’s global medical head said their clinical data showed there is risk of dengue before and after getting the vaccine. However, when a person gets the vaccine after he or she has had an infection, the effectivity of the vaccine increases by up to 6 years. But Dengvaxia increases the risk of contracting severe dengue for those who got the vaccine without prior infection. 

Pamintuan said he recently met with a United States-based lawyer to form a legal team from Europe and the US in building up a case against the pharmaceutical company.

“I look at this incident as a reckless assault on the human rights of the innocent children, and that my city is firing back a direct response against the pharma company that brought fear to those affected by the result of their clinical trial,” Pamintuan said.

According to the statement, Angeles City is already monitoring the grade school students who got the vaccine.

Pamintuan, who is also president of the city mayors’ league of the Philippines, is perhaps the first local chief executive to challenge the pharmaceutical giant over the dengue vaccine disaster.

The Department of Health estimates that the government has given the vaccine to more than 700,000 children the vaccine. One in every 10 of them is at risk of more severe dengue after getting the vaccine.

The Senate, the House of Representatives, the Department of Justice, and the Department of Health are conducting separate probes into the matter. (EDITORIAL: Somebody has to answer for the dengue vaccine disaster) – Rappler.com