The tragedy of the 87 victims of Fenetanil contaminated in Argentina: “He went to the hospital to take the calculations and in the end he was killed”

About 300,000 fenanil ampoules for clinical use have been infected with bacteria, causing uncertainty among thousands of families in Argentina. The case is under investigation and families ask for measures to avoid similar accidents in the future

When he was five years old, Leonel Ayala collected the remains of a football ball that had been destroyed during a game at his house in Florencio Varela, in the province of Buenos Aires, in Argentina.

He repaired it in a few minutes, with the help of a needle and a small line.

“One of my brother’s greatest memories is that he was the most creative and qualified person I have ever met”, David Ayala, Leonel’s older brother, BBC News, BBC News Service.

Leonel Ayala was one of the fatal victims of the clinical application of a batch of Fenanil contaminated in Argentina. The episode was qualified as one of the “greatest health scandals of the country’s history”.

The judge responsible for the case indicates 87 dead, but the local press says that there are nine other cases investigated.

The authorities have investigated the deaths since the end of last year. They examine cases of patients who have entered several hospitals in the country, looking for treatments for various diseases. And after receiving the Fenanil as analgesic, they died of serious bacterial infections.

However, only in May of this year, after the complaints of various medical institutions have become known these irregularities with the clinical Fenanil.

Investigations say that at least 300,000 Fenanil Ampoules have been infected with super resistant bacteria and distributed in various Medical Centers of Argentina.

Most of these AMPOLE were produced by the HLB Pharma Group and Ramallo Laboratories, which are investigated by the local authorities.

The federal judge responsible for the case, Ernesto Kreplak, said that medical experts were able to detect the presence of bacteria Klebsiella Pneumoniae AND Ralstonia Pickettii In the dead and in the bowls that contained Fenetanil.

“There were two lots,” said the judge at Argentina Radio with Vos. “One of them was with high circulation and was widely applied. On the other, no dose was administered.”

Family members require not only justice against the managers of medical negligence, but of the processing of protocols that allow the traceability of some drugs.

“You can’t get Fenanil in a pharmacy,” explains Ayala. “[O produto] It is of direct use and, therefore, it is not possible to precisely determine which batch has been used or which ampoules remain infected. “

The case of Leonel Ayala

In mid -March, Leonel Ayala, a graduate in musical education, began to feel abdominal pain that gradually worsened.

“On March 15, he was admitted to the hospital because they had found a calculation,” says his brother David. “But for a failure of the procedure, they eventually caused a pancreatitis.”

Initially, Leonel Ayala was treated at the Ranel clinic. But after the complications, he was taken to the Italian hospital in the city of La Plata.

On April 4, he underwent a new surgery. It was at this moment that the treatment for pain from Fenanil began.

“We spend days looking at progress in your health,” recalls the brother. “Start speaking on his cell phone, what he will do when he recovers. Because he was really recovering.”

But the situation soon suffered a turnaround.

“Until April 8, it was perfect,” continues David Ayala. “Then a deterioration began that we do not understand: first, fever; then some organs stopped working.”

It was then that the doctors explained that there was a bacterial infection that could not control, nor with the most powerful drugs.

“It was a matter of hours”, according to his brother. “When the bacteria hit the brain, the doctor said it was better to greet him. He died on April 8.”

The deaths in that hospital aroused investigations. In addition to Ayala, at least eight people died in the Italian hospital in a short time, who raised suspicions.

“They examined all the medical tools, the structures and found nothing”, according to David.

“Until they decided to review the Fenanil Ampoules, which was a common factor among all the victims, and they realized they were infected.”

Chat for the families of the victims

BBC News Mundo had access to a group of family chats of the infected victims Fenanil. The group is called “United for the Justice of the Victims of the Deadly Fenanil”.

In it, people gather with the same question. They try to find out if the cases of their families involve possible infections.

“My father has undergone surgery, in which everything went well,” says one of the testimonies. “On Sunday they detected a very aggressive bacterium and is now in a coma.”

The daughter wants to know if her father is another victim of infected Fenanil.

“The uncertainty is enormous, Sandra Altamirano said to the BBC. His son had presumably died for the contaminated Fenanil.

“There are over 150,000 infected ampoules and we do not know where or how most of them have been used because there are no record,” he explains.

“My son, Daniel Sebastián Oviedo, 42 years old, died after being cured with Fenetanil infected with the Italian hospital of La Plata. He entered to be edited by a problem with his dialysis and was killed.”

Altamirano says that it has a 600 -page clinical history. In the chat group, they try to lead family members to search for the clinical history of patients in order to determine if they were victims of infected ampoule.

“What we want is justice, not only in relation to the workshops, but for the entire production chain,” he says, “because we do not understand how something like this may have happened without any control”.

Currently, the investigation is in the calculation phase. Judge Kreplak ordered the seizure of all the suspicions of Fenestanil and said that more than 24 people are under investigation in this case.

Already the family members met with political leaders in the Argentine congress. To prevent something similar, they can be repeated in the future.

“I know we don’t have the time of justice, not at speed when we want a resolution. But we want people responsible for this tragedy to answer for their crimes,” concludes Altamirano.

Source: Terra

Ben

Ben Stock is a lifestyle journalist and author at Gossipify. He writes about topics such as health, wellness, travel, food and home decor. He provides practical advice and inspiration to improve well-being, keeps readers up to date with latest lifestyle news and trends, known for his engaging writing style, in-depth analysis and unique perspectives.