Senate subpoenas PAO chief, forensic expert to Dengvaxia probe

The Senate joint committees probing the Dengvaxia mess have subpoenaed Public Attorney’s Office (PAO) chief Persida Rueda-Acosta and its forensic expert Dr. Erwin Erfe after the two skipped Tuesday’s hearing despite repeated invitations.

Senator JV Ejercito, chair of Senate health and demography committee, made the motion at the beginning of the fifth hearing. This was approved by blue ribbon committee chair Senator Richard Gordon.

“In line with the chairman’s quest for truth, this representation feels that their findings will be significant and also what we want is for government agencies to work together,” Ejercito told the panel.

“‘Yun po ang hindi ko maunawaan Mr. Chair kung bakit ayaw makipag-usap o makipagtulungan ng PAO with the experts, yung UP-PGH (University of the Philippines Philippine General Hospital (UP-PGH),” he added.

Ejercito also said he was worried that the possible case against French pharmaceutical giant Sanofi Pasteur could be affected if PAO would not cooperate.

“Ang worry ko lang dito na in the future when we file a case probably with Sanofi. Ayaw natin na masayang trabaho natin dito and we will lose because of technicalities. It would be good to have concerted efforts that all of government agencies would coordinate,” he said.

On Monday, PAO said it sued former Health Secretary Janette Garin and Sanofi  representatives after its own forensic examination bared that a 10-year-old child, who had no history of dengue, died after receiving the vaccine.

A separate clinical review by the UP-PGH Dengue Investigative Task Force’s bared that out of the 14 children who had been vaccinated and had died, three children contracted the dengue virus.

Health Secretary Francisco Duque III likewise said these findings are preliminary and further studies should be made before drawing any conclusions. /cbb