Two ex-officials charged over tainted fentanyl scandal linked to 90 deaths

A judge on Tuesday charged two former government medical officials for their alleged involvement in a case of contaminated fentanyl that was linked to at least 90 deaths in 2025.

Local media have dubbed the tragedy the largest medical scandal in a century, after the Covid pandemic.

The case came to light in May last year when a hospital in La Plata, the capital of Buenos Aires Province, detected the same bacteria in vials of fentanyl and in infected patients.

Those charged are 71-year-old Nélida Bisio, who headed Argentina’s drug regulatory agency ANMAT during the crisis, and 56-year-old Gabriela Mantecón Fumadó, the former head of the INAME drug institute linked to ANMAT.

Both individuals were identified as “necessary participants” in the adulteration of fentanyl, the ruling stated.

Federal Judge Ernesto Kreplak said both defendants were aware of the “significant irregularities” at HLB Pharma and Laboratorios Ramallo, the companies that manufactured and marketed the drug.

“Nevertheless, they decided not to implement the measures they were regulatorily compelled to take. That’s how the adulterated fentanyl ended up being sold,” he stated.

Thirteen businesspeople and managers from both laboratories have already been indicted in the case.

“However, they decided not to take the measures they were legally obliged to take. As a result, the adulterated fentanyl was placed on the market,” Kreplak stated in the ruling obtained by AFP.

With Tuesday’s decision, the investigation is, for the first time, turning its attention to former officials responsible for the “supervision and control” of medicinal products, the ruling states.

Asset freezes of 500 billion pesos (about US$330 million) each were also ordered by Kreplak.

Bisio and Mantecón Fumadó will remain free during the proceedings, the judge said.

Mantecón Fumadó stepped down from his post during the fentanyl crisis in August 2025. Bisio remained in post until January 2026.

Fentanyl is between 50 and 100 times more potent than morphine, according to data from the World Health Organisation.

– TIMES/AFP