80 vials of fentanyl go missing from Israelite Hospital spurring Chigi meet

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."

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