Argentina records nearly 100 deaths from contaminated clinical fentanyl as Milei pressures the judge in the case

With nearly 100 confirmed deaths, the scandal over the use of contaminated clinical fentanyl in Argentine hospitals is growing daily and is on track to become one of the largest health disasters in the country’s history. The ongoing judicial investigation counts 87 deaths and estimates that nine more cases will soon be confirmed, bringing the total to 96. While the synthetic opioid infected with bacteria is no longer being used, the identification of new victims has not been ruled out.

While the families of the deceased demand justice, the scandal has become embroiled in the political dispute leading up to the October legislative elections. President Javier Milei accuses the Kirchner administration of alleged ties to one of the businessmen implicated in the production of the tainted pharmaceuticals and has demanded that the judge in charge of the case order his arrest. The opposition accuses the far-right government of serious failures in state oversight, as part of its ongoing process of adjustment and deregulation of public administration.

Fentanyl is used in hospitals and health centers as a powerful painkiller or anesthetic. In all the cases analyzed, the victims were hospitalized for various ailments and, when given the drug, became infected with bacteria that cause serious illnesses, such as pneumonia.

The first deaths that alerted doctors and health authorities occurred last April in the city of La Plata. By May, it had already been determined that two batches of injectable fentanyl manufactured in December 2024 by the pharmaceutical company HLB Pharma Group and Laboratorio Ramallo contained multidrug-resistant bacteria: Klebsiella pneumoniae and Ralstonia pickettii.

The contamination affected more than 300,000 ampoules distributed in at least 118 health centers across the country. Approximately 45,000 ampoules were estimated to have been used on patients. The remainder were never distributed, seized, or withdrawn from use.

“This is a mass murder,” said Daniel Oviedo, father of one of the victims, in statements to the local press. “They’ve already taken the most precious thing in my life… Every morning I still wait for my son to have breakfast. I have nothing left to lose. I just want justice and accountability.” His son, Daniel, suffered from chronic kidney disease and had been admitted to the Italian Hospital in La Plata in February. He died on May 17 due to hospital-acquired pneumonia, according to the family. It is now known that he is one of the many patients who received the contaminated fentanyl.

The judicial investigation, led by federal judge Ernesto Kreplak, has several aspects, but the central one is determining who was responsible for the contamination. Investigators’ suspicions center on 24 people who worked in the laboratories involved, from professionals to employees, starting with the owners, businessman Ariel García Furfaro and his partner Jorge Salinas.

No one has yet been formally charged in the case, the court explains, because evidence is still being collected and victims are being counted. They maintain that the lack of traceability of fentanyl in the country, the absence of digital records in many hospitals, and the reluctance of health centers to get involved in the case, necessitate an almost artisanal search.

The relationship between the deceased patients and the HLB-Ramallo fentanyl has so far been reliably established in 44 cases: the Malbrán Institute — the public body dedicated to researching and preventing infectious diseases — verified the same genetic identity between the bacteria detected in the ampoules and in the victims.

Until further analysis could be conducted, the court’s decision was to also consider cases of people who, during the period covered, died from the same bacteria after receiving fentanyl from the contaminated batches. Thus, some suspected cases were ruled out, and 43 victims were added. There are nine other possible cases under analysis in the city of Bahía Blanca. Investigators believe more may still emerge.

The progress of the investigation is now pending two technical expert reports, the results of which the judge expects to receive this week. One focuses on the medical records of the deceased patients, seeking to establish a link between the treatments they received and the causes of death.

The other expert report consists of an analysis of the documentation collected during the raids on the fentanyl production processes. The purpose is to determine whether protocols were followed, where deficiencies were found that may have led to contamination, and whether any of the suspects were aware of the risks they were taking.

The responsibility of both the laboratories and state oversight agencies is under scrutiny, after it became known that pre-event evaluations had warned of serious irregularities in the drug’s production. The National Administration of Drugs, Food, and Medical Technology (ANMAT) conducted a series of inspections of the Ramallo Laboratory, where HLB Pharma’s fentanyl was produced, between November 28 and December 12, 2024. The conclusion was that there were “significant deficiencies classified as critical and major” that affected “the quality, safety, and efficacy of the products.”

But ANMAT took two months, until February 10, to order that the laboratory “not be able to continue its production activity” until the deficiencies were corrected. By then, the contaminated fentanyl had already been manufactured and distributed.

From silence to political dispute

Milei’s government, including his Health Minister Mario Lugones, maintained a conspicuous silence on the case until last week. Last Wednesday, at the initiative of opposition legislators and even allies of the ruling party, the Health Committee of the Chamber of Deputies approved a request for information from the executive branch. “This is the worst case of drug poisoning in Argentina since the creation of ANMAT [in 1992]. We want to know, we want them to explain to us what the warning signs were [...] to find out if there was negligence,” stated the committee’s chairman, Peronist deputy Pablo Yedlin.

A day later, on Thursday, the government decided to make a public statement. At a campaign event in La Plata, Milei linked Kirchnerism — the main opposition force in the upcoming elections — to the adulterated drug and referred to the “atrocious cover-up by Ariel Furfaro, a long-time Kirchnerist ally, in the fentanyl case.” He then asked, “Does it seem like a coincidence to you that the judge overseeing the case is the brother of [governor of the province of Buenos Aires, Axel] Kicillof’s health minister? That is the model of cronyism. Corruption, cover-up, and crime.” So far, no connection between the case and the provincial health minister, Nicolás Kreplak, has been ascertained. In a statement, the executive branch threatened to recuse the judge if he does not order “the immediate arrest” of García Furfaro.

Judge Kreplak asked Milei to “respect the victims and the institutions,” and responded: “I remind Mr. President of his constitutional obligation to refrain from interfering in an ongoing criminal case. The investigation has had to overcome enough omissions and difficulties so far without any attempt to politicize a well-carried out judicial effort.”

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