MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Fentanyl scandal splashing Milei's rivals leading up to midterms

Fentanyl is between 50 and 100 times more potent than morphine

The death toll from contaminated medical fentanyl in Argentina has been updated to 100 people, with the Libertarian government publicly blaming HLB Pharma Group S.A., and its owner, Ariel Garcia Furfaro, for it.

“Ariel Garcia Furfaro is the owner of the HLB Pharma Group S.A. laboratory, manufacturer of the contaminated batch of fentanyl responsible for the deaths of more than 100 people,” a presidential spokesperson wrote in a statement.

The laboratory was shut down in February, three months before the first reported death, after an inspection by the food and drug authority (ANMAT). The government is now accusing the opposition, led by former President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, of a cover-up.

In a campaign rally on Thursday, President Javier Milei claimed that Furfaro was a “long-time Kirchnerist associate” and accused the opposition of protecting him. He also stated that if Judge Ernesto Kreplak, who is investigating the case, does not order Furfaro's immediate arrest, the government will seek to have the judge removed due to a “conflict of interest,” as he is the brother of Buenos Aires Province's Minister of Health, Nicolás Kreplak.

HLB Pharma Group has denied the possibility of contamination occurring in their lab, and has accused political and economic sectors of using the tragedy for “opportunism” and a “media smear campaign.” The deaths, which occurred in hospitals between March and May, have been recorded in the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires (CABA) and four other provinces.

The crisis is worsening ahead of the Sept. 7 midterm federal and local elections in the province of Buenos Aires, which could be pivotal for Milei's future, given the population's tough economic constraints. Buenos Aires is the most populous and richest province in the country.

HLB Pharma Group said in a statement that it was “at the disposal of the courts” and accused political and economic sectors of “opportunism” in “launching a media smear campaign” against the company. “Contamination such as that reported by some media outlets—with one or even more multi-resistant bacteria typical of a hospital environment in the same batch—is simply not possible in a laboratory environment,” the company argued.

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