Fentanyl scandal grows: Tainted fentanyl blamed for 87 hospital deaths in Argentina

At least 87 people have died in Argentina after being administered bacteria-infected fentanyl in hospitals, a judge that was 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 ANMAT drug regulatory agency, which had received a report from a hospital that discovered the tainted drug in its supply, an employee at the agency confirmed to the AFP news agency on condition of anonymity.

The deaths have occurred in hospitals in Buenos Aires City, Buenos Aires Province and three other provinces, the judge leading the investigation, Ernesto Kreplak, told the La Nación daily newspaper in an article published Wednesday.

New cases are now being investigated in the provinces Formosa, Córdoba, Santa Fe, and Bahía Blanca.

No arrests have yet been made but at least 24 people have been questioned in relation to the case and had their assets frozen by the court. 

They include Ariel Furfaro García, owner of HLB Pharma and Ramallo Laboratories, which allegedly produced and sold the contaminated drug, La Nación reported. 

He denied the claims and blamed a former colleague for having planted the story in the media. Spokespersons for the laboratories have also blamed sabotage.

"This was fabricated by the media. All the clinical histories show that the patients had other, more dangerous bacteria, people with serious problems," Furfaro García told the Clarín newspaper midweek. 

According to La Nación, 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 Hospital Italiano in La Plata, 60 kilometres (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," said demonstrator Alejandro Ayala, whose brother Leonel died at the age of 32. 

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.

In another twist to the case, the national government ordered the recusal of Judge Kreplak from the case on Wednesday, due to his direct family ties to Buenos Aires Province Health Minister Nicolás Kreplak.

The decision comes at a critical moment in the investigation, with the death toll rising and suspicions that there may be more unreported victims.

According to reporting by the Noticias Argentinas news agency, the Executive's main argument is an alleged conflict of interest, since the laboratory at the centre of the investigation, HLB Pharma, is the main supplier to the portfolio led by the judge's brother.

– TIMES/AFP/NA