(31 Jul 2025)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
La Plata, Argentina – 31 July 2025
1. People demanding justice for fentanyl-related deaths, chanting UPSOUND (Spanish): "Justice, justice"
2. Liana Peralta, mother of fentanyl victim Leonel Ayala, 32, holding sign reading (Spanish): "I will live for you son, to combat this injustice, I promise"
3. Peralta crying with family members wearing shirts with a photo of Ayala
4. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Liana Peralta, mother of 32-year-old fentanyl victim Leonel Ayala:
"On April 12th, we lost our son, who was in intensive care. He was on continuous fentanyl treatment and passed away in three to four days, he completely deteriorated. He had a general infection and multi-organ failure, and we didn’t know what it was because even the doctors couldn’t tell us."
5. Relatives holding banners demanding justice for fentanyl victims
6. Relatives grieving
7. Sign with fentanyl victim reading (Spanish): "Present, now and ever"
8. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Adriana Francese, lawyer for several families:
"What is known is that the contamination came from the closed vial of fentanyl in the container, which is a sealed glass vial. The bacteria were contained there, and they are the same ones that were later tested in the samples from the deceased, which have the same bacteria."
9. Protesters chanting UPSOUND (Spanish): "Justice, justice" in front of the Italian Hospital, one of the largest public hospitals in La Plata where many of the people died
10. Family hugging, wearing photos of their loved ones who died of fentanyl contamination
11. Protester holding sign reading (Spanish): "Patience is over, justice now"
12. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Antonio Hernández, brother of Celia Hernández, who died of adulterated fentanyl:
"Here, the government has to do something, I don’t know if at the provincial level or at the national level, to really hold the laboratories accountable and have them explain why. Because if not, we’re in danger; everyone who goes to a hospital or therapy is in danger. We don’t know what they’re going to give us."
13. Protesters holding banner reading (Spanish): "Old loves long gone, the lost ones’ shattered dreams, victims of adulterated fentanyl – families united by grief"
14. Protesters holding signs demanding justice for fentanyl-related deaths
STORYLINE:
Relatives of more than 50 people who died from contaminated fentanyl supplied to Argentina’s hospital system protested outside the Italian Hospital in La Plata on Thursday, a city in Buenos Aires province, 60 kilometers south of the capital.
The relatives criticized that, after three months of investigation, the justice system has yet to formally press charges against those responsible for distributing the adulterated analgesic.
The federal court in La Plata, which is leading the current investigation, is looking into up to 100 suspicious deaths, 54 of which have been confirmed by independent experts provided by the families.
In early May, Argentina’s Ministry of Health detected an infection from fentanyl contaminated with K. pneumoniae type MB and Ralstonia spp. bacteria in patients who had died or were in serious condition in hospitals in several provinces.
Health authorities determined that local firms, HLB Pharma Group and Ramallo Laboratories, had distributed the contaminated fentanyl and ordered the withdrawal of the contaminated batches from the market.
Additionally, they suspended the activities of both firms.
The justice system then ordered numerous raids on laboratories and drugstores, but so far, no one has been charged in connection with the events.
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