Aguirre: 3rd party foreign pathologist needed in Dengvaxia probe

Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II. (File photo by JHOANNA BALLARAN / INQUIRER.net)

Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II on Tuesday expressed the need to bring into the country a foreign third-party pathologist to examine the bodies of children suspected to have died as a result of being vaccinated with Dengvaxia.

Aguirre said he would suggest it to President Rodrigo Duterte in their meeting on Thursday.

“I am going to emphasize that we need a clinical pathologist or an expert on matter,” Aguirre told reporters, adding that the expert should come from abroad and should have impressive qualifications.

“It will not be a Filipino,” he said. “It will come from abroad who can establish definitely the linkage between the Dengvaxia and the death or injuries suffered by the students.”

Attending the meeting with the President were presidential spokesperson Harry Roque, Health Secretary Francisco Duque III, Public Attorney’s Office (PAO) chief Persida Acosta, Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea, and Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption (VACC) Chairman Dante Jimenez.

Aguirre said he already raised this need for a foreign expert during his recent meeting with Roque and Duque in Malacañang.

The Justice secretary said the findings of Dr. Erwin Erfe, Director of the PAO Forensic Laboratory, should be examined by a pathologist.

According to Aguirre, Erfe is not a pathologist but a forensic physician. /atm