Tainted fentanyl blamed for 87 hospital deaths in Argentina

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BUENOS AIRES — At least 87 people have died in Argentina after being administered bacteria-infected fentanyl in hospitals, a judge investigating the deaths said Wednesday.

Since May, a court has been trying to determine how many deaths are linked to batches of the drug contaminated with the bacteria Klebsiella pneumoniae and Ralstonia pickettii.

The suspected toll has soared since then, with family members holding protests outside hospitals demanding justice.

The probe arose from a complaint filed by Argentina’s drug regulatory agency, Anmat, which had received a report from a hospital that discovered the tainted drug in its supply, an Anmat employee told AFP on condition of anonymity.

The deaths have occurred in hospitals in the city and province of Buenos Aires, and in three other provinces, the judge leading the investigation, Ernesto Kreplak, told The Nation daily newspaper in an article published Wednesday.

At least 24 people have been questioned and had their assets frozen by the court.

They include Ariel Furfaro Garcia, owner of HLB Pharma and Ramallo Laboratories, which allegedly produced and sold the contaminated drug, The Nation reported.

He denied the claims and blamed a former colleague for having planted the story in the media.

“This was fabricated by the media. All the clinical histories show that the patients had other, more dangerous bacteria, people with serious problems,” Furfaro Garcia told the daily newspaper Clarin.

According to The Nation, at least five contaminated batches were distributed to eight hospitals and health centers in the country, although the investigation is looking at clinical histories from 200 hospitals.

Two weeks ago, relatives of victims demonstrated outside the Italian Hospital in La Plata, 60 kilometers (37 miles) south of Buenos Aires, where the first deaths were reported, demanding “justice for the fentanyl victims.”

“The fentanyl caused his death in a matter of days,” Alejandro Ayala, whose brother Leonel died at the age of 32, told AFP.

Experts have warned that the death toll could rise as new medical records are reviewed and cases are confirmed in hospitals that to date had not reported any fentanyl-linked deaths.

Argentina’s Congress on Wednesday submitted 26 questions related to the case to the Executive branch of the government, but no deadline has been set for their response.