THE Court of Appeals (CA) has affirmed the ruling of the Quezon City Regional Trial Court consolidating the Dengvaxia cases to be tried by one family court.
In a ruling dated July 16, the appellate court’s former Special Seventh Division junked the motion for reconsideration filed by Zuellig Pharma Corporation and Sanofi Pasteur Inc. questioning its November 25, 2024 ruling.
Sanofi, a French pharmaceutical giant, manufactured the controversial Dengvaxia anti-dengue vaccine, while Zuellig is its distributor in the country.
Sanofi and Zuellig’s motion challenged the ruling of the Quezon City RTC Branch 230 consolidating the cases filed by the heirs of Ariel Hedia and Ian Colite.
They argued the consolidation would prejudice their rights.
The CA, in its assailed 2024 ruling, said that consolidation of the cases would allow the simultaneous trial of cases since it basically involves the same facts and backgrounds.
In its latest ruling, the CA, through Associate Justice Mary Charlene Hernandez-Acuzar, held that consolidation would not only hasten the trial of the case, but also prevent multiplicity of suits while simplifying the trial proceedings.
“All the cases are intimately related as they involve the alleged irregular procurement of the Dengvaxia vaccine and its eventual alleged improper implementation during the Dengvaxia immunization program by the DOH, the alleged negligence of the defendants and petitioners relative to its registration, purchase and subsequent administration of the Dengvaxia vaccine,” the CA said.
With this, the CA said it found no compelling reason to grant the motion filed by Sanofi and Zuellig, adding that the arguments they raised have already been discussed, threshed out and settled in the 20204 ruling.
To recall, in 2017, the Philippines suspended its dengue vaccination program using Dengvaxia jabs following Sanofi’s announcement that it could cause severe dengue if given to those without prior exposure to the disease.
Some 860,000 people, including 830,000 children, were inoculated with Dengvaxia before the DOH stopped the program in 2017.
In 2020, the Supreme Court approved the petition of the parents of children who died allegedly after being inoculated with the said vaccine to transfer all Dengvaxia-related cases to a single Regional Trial Court in Quezon City.
