Eighty vials of fentanyl were stolen from the pharmacy at Rome's Israelite Hospital, in the Magliana neighborhood. The news, reported by Il Messaggero, prompted an immediate emergency meeting at Palazzo Chigi and the launch of an investigation by the Carabinieri NAS (National Anti-Corruption Unit) and the Ministry of Health.

According to reports, the vials were kept in the hospital safe. The alarm was raised by hospital employees, and when the Carabinieri arrived, they found no signs of forced entry. The safe key, the hospital reports, is used by multiple employees. Among the theories being investigated by investigators is that of a contract theft for resale on the black market.

Fentanyl is a powerful opioid used in pain therapy, but it is also one of the most dangerous synthetic drugs, capable of causing very serious or lethal effects even at very low doses.

The alarm from Palazzo Chigi

"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 raising serious concerns about the irresponsible behavior of those responsible for ensuring their safety, despite strict rules for access to and storage of these substances ," sources at Palazzo Chigi reported.

For this reason, in the early afternoon, Undersecretary to the Presidency of the Council of Ministers Alfredo Mantovano chaired an emergency meeting attended, among others, by 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. At the end of the meeting, the meeting reiterated "the need to ensure compliance with the procedures established for the management of high-risk medicines, in order to protect public health and prevent the recurrence of similar incidents."