Overview
- Federal Judge Ernesto Kreplak told a congressional commission that traceability work showed more than 154,000 adulterated fentanyl ampoules circulated, with 124 deaths counted so far.
- Health surveillance immobilized seven suspect lots and laboratory testing confirmed two contaminated lots tied to HLB Pharma production at Laboratorios Ramallo, where two bacterial species were detected.
- Investigators traced 86,000 ampoules from one contaminated lot and located 85,848 of them across 51 health centers and two drugstores, indicating a small number were administered to patients.
- Kreplak reported evidence of systematic breaches of good manufacturing practices and falsified production records, along with state shortcomings including no real‑time traceability and lapses in mandatory adverse‑event reporting.
- Next steps include sending additional victim files to the forensic corps, coordinating the retrieval of 45,000 ampoules in custody, continuing document reviews over the recess, and preparing to seek elevation of the case to trial in winter 2026 as Congress readies its final report and has summoned the health minister and ANMAT chief for testimony next week.