Overview
- This week prosecutors detained Nélida Bisio, ex‑head of ANMAT, and Gabriela Mantecón Fumado, ex‑director of INAME, and the court ordered their release on Friday after each put up property as a 75 million peso guarantee and surrendered their passports.
- Investigators say batches produced in December 2024 by HLB Pharma and Laboratorios Ramallo were microbiologically contaminated with Klebsiella pneumoniae and Ralstonia mannitolilytica, findings that match bacteria later found in patient blood cultures.
- Prosecutors rely on a 191‑page dossier and peritajes that document delayed inspections, forewarning of visits, failures to open full sanctions, and internal proposals to use private channels instead of public withdrawal notices, which they argue allowed unsafe production to continue.
- The wider probe already led to arrests of company owners and managers last year, closure of related commercial activity, and now extends to senior regulators accused of knowing about elevated risk and not stopping distribution.
- Families and hospitals have reported at least 90 deaths and more than 40 non‑fatal injuries linked to the contaminated vials, and courts will require case‑by‑case medical and forensic reviews to establish direct causation for each victim.