The Dengvaxia boomerang

Don’t look now but the Dengvaxia cases and controversy are beginning to boomerang and may end up landing at the feet or face of those who started it.

When the DOJ announced through Undersecretary Raul Vasquez that it had dropped 98 Dengvaxia cases, most people were more interested in the “why” than the “what” and to the credit of Undersecretary Vasquez, he clearly explained many of the “whys” as well as the “whats.”

During a curbside interview shared on YouTube, Usec. Vasquez ended up giving an almost complete legal brief on how the Dengvaxia cases were brought to court, spread out and filed in different courts in the Philippines, containing essentially the same information and allegations.

I imagined the cases filed multiplying in “gremlin-like” fashion while carrying defective legal genes that have now resulted in a legal boomerang of sorts. Aside from the multiple “almost copy paste” cases, I recall that the Office of the Solicitor General had previously asked that some 500 cases be consolidated for faster resolution.

That may have been what triggered a massive review of cases by the DOJ starting with the initial 98, to be followed by another 15 and subsequently “hundreds more.” As a result, what used to be confusing and largely misunderstood about the Dengvaxia controversy is now being placed under serious legal and factual scrutiny. Science, law and facts are turning the tables on the defective and destructive claims that created the Dengvaxia controversy.

For transparency’s sake, I received a copy of the decision that was over a hundred pages, eating up about 30 pages just for respondents and complainants, followed by medical summaries of 83 children who allegedly died because of the Dengvaxia vaccine.

The summaries included name and age of patient, date of inoculation, place of inoculation, date of death, cause of death on certificate (antecedent and underlying cause), cause of death on Public Attorney’s Office/PAO medical findings based on autopsy reported VLD with NLD secondary to Dengvaxia.

Most if not a majority of the deaths occurred months, even a year to two years, after inoculation. This information is vital because any adverse reaction or effect