Manila: Senators welcomed a move by Sanofi Pasteur to reimburse the cost of dengue vaccines the government purchased from the latter, but said that the French pharmaceutical firm needs to do more to atone for its misstep.

“Reimbursement is not enough. Over and above its plan to pay back the government for unused Dengvaxia (dengue vaccine) vials, I call on Sanofi to shoulder the health needs of the affected children and compensate their families,” Senator Riza Hontiveros said.

“Sanofi should bear all the legal and ethical responsibilities that have resulted from the firm’s negligence. The cost after all, is more than just money. There was clear negligence, and the responsible thing to do is for Sanofi to see to the health needs of the affected and compensate their families for the harm they have caused. Regaining the trust of the public is a far more important investment,” Hontiveros added

On Monday, Sanofi Pasteur announced that it would refund to the Philippine government P1.4 billion (Dh102 million) representing the cost of unused vials of Dengvaxia that the latter had purchased.

This came after the Department of Health revealed that 17 patients who had been given shots died despite having been administered with the vaccine.

The government had been purchasing billions of pesos worth of Dengvaxia since 2016 from Sanofi Pasteur.

In a statement, Hontiveros said that while she welcomes the French pharmaceutical company’s move to reimburse the cost of the unused doses of Dengvaxia, she asserted that the ethical response is for Sanofi to do more.

Sanofi had earlier admitted that for those who were given shots of the vaccine but were not previously infected by dengue virus, there is a higher risk of worsening the symptoms.

For his part, Senator Richard Gordon, who was the first Senator to take note of anomalies in the vaccination programme, said the government needs to come up with a master list of all the people who had been given Dengvaxia shots.

“Second, over and above what Sanofi promised, if they are in good faith, Sanofi must establish and put up a Compensation and Monitoring Fund to monitor and support the treatment and hospitalisation of the individuals affected. And, in case of death, to provide full support to the families,” he said.

He pointed out that in a similar case in 2016 when Sanofi was a respondent to a class suit. Its medicinal products (Dépakine, Micropakine, Dépakote, Dépamide and generics) that may have created birth malformations and developmental disorders which led the French public authorities to create a Compensation Fund to deal with the damages caused.

“While charges in courts may already have been filed by certain groups; the duty of Congress to propose recommendations in aid of legislation, particularly on the undue haste of procuring the vaccines, remains to be in place. It is Congress’ duty to make people aware of these issues,” he said.

In 2017, Gordon assailed Sanofi Pasteur for turning Filipinos into virtual lab rats for its products.

Dengue fever is a mosquito-borne disease caused by four dengue virus variants.