Argentine authorities have confirmed that the death toll from contaminated fentanyl has reached 111 victims. The Federal Justice sent the complete list of deceased to the Forensic Medical Corps, as sources close to the case had anticipated to the Argentine News Agency. The analysis was conducted during the Judicial Fair, a period in which a total of 159 cases were evaluated, while 48 patients survived the adulterated opioid. Personnel from the Forensic Medical Corps will be responsible for studying the samples received, and if these data are confirmed, the judicial situation of 14 prosecuted and detained individuals, including Ariel García Furfaro, owner of HLB Pharma and Ramallo S.A. laboratories, could be aggravated. “This was a major cleanup work done during the recess,” a source close to the file had stated. García Furfaro, linked to the Kirchner family, is considered “criminally responsible as an accomplice to the crime of adulteration of medicinal substances” for causing the deaths of 20 people, “in real conjunction with the crime of adulteration of medicinal substances in a dangerous manner for health, also as an accomplice.” The businessman is alleged to have intervened along with 16 members of the staff of both laboratories through “the making of various decisions related to the manufacture, distribution and sale” in the adulteration of batch 31202 of the opioid, which was “destined for public health use, with a production order issued on December 16, 2024.” “The adulterations of the medicinal substance consisted of its contamination from a manufacturing process characterized by multiple shortcomings, including many critical ones, regarding which there were multiple alerts that were not heeded,” the document accessed by NA states. In parallel with the investigation, the families continue to demand justice and that those responsible be convicted for causing the country's worst health crisis related to the inoculation with an opioid adulterated with bacteria.
