Eighty vials of fentanyl have disappeared from the Israelite Hospital in Rome, in the Magliana neighborhood, Rome daily Il Messaggero reported Friday saying the vials of the drug had been kept in the hospital safe.
An emergency meeting of health and drugs officials was immediately called at premier Giorgia Meloni’s office at Palazzo Chigi and the health ministry sent inspectors to the Hospital.
Among the police’s theories is that it was a commissioned theft aimed at reselling the vials on the black market.
Fentanyl is a powerful opioid used for pain relief and is also one of the synthetic drugs considered the most dangerous, as it can have serious or even lethal effects even at low doses.
The alarm was raised, the Roman newspaper reports, by hospital employees, and when the Carabinieri arrived, they found that the safe showed no signs of forced entry.
The key, the hospital said, was being used by multiple employees.
An emergency meeting was called at Palazzo Chigi while the health ministry ordered an inspection of the hospital.
“Following the theft of medicines, specifically 80 vials of fentanyl, suitable for packaging up to approximately 20,000 doses for illicit consumption, which occurred in the pharmacy of Rome’s Israelite Hospital, Palazzo Chigi is expressing strong alarm over the irresponsible behaviour of those responsible for ensuring the safety of these substances, despite strict rules for their access and storage,” Chigi said.
Chigi sources reported that “early this afternoon, Cabinet Secretary Alfredo Mantovano chaired an emergency meeting at Palazzo Chigi.
Among those attending were the Chief of Staff of the Ministry of Health, the Director of the General Directorate for Anti-Drug Services, the Director General of the Lazio Region’s Health Directorate, and the heads of the Department for Addiction Policies of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers.”
During the meeting, the sources said, “the need to ensure compliance with the procedures established for managing high-risk drugs was reiterated, in order to protect public health and prevent similar incidents from recurring.”
The sources said that “in the meantime, the Carabinieri NAS (health and hygiene police) have been activated to carry out the necessary investigations, while the Ministry of Health has ordered an inspection to verify any liability and ensure compliance with current protocols.”
“In the coming days,” it is explained, “the monitoring committee for the implementation of the anti-fentanyl plan will be reconvened at Palazzo Chigi, with the aim of ensuring that all stakeholders apply the necessary precautions and controls.”
From ANSA
