The Italian government is sounding the alarm after 80 vials of fentanyl, a synthetic opioid up to one hundred times more powerful than morphine, were stolen from Rome’s Israelitic Hospital.

The missing quantity would be enough to produce up to around 20,000 doses potentially destined for illicit use, which in countries such as the United States and Canada has become a national emergency.

Fentanyl is used legally in medicine as an anaesthetic and to treat severe pain, including in cancer patients. But taking this “party anaesthetic” for non-medical purposes has devastating effects. As little as 3 milligrams of the “zombie drug” (as it is known when mixed with xylazine) are enough to kill a person.

In Italy too, its growing spread on the illegal drug market has raised public health concerns, leading to a “National prevention plan against the improper use of fentanyl and other synthetic opioids” presented in March 2024 by the Anti-Drugs Policy Department of the Prime Minister’s Office.

How the fentanyl theft unfolded

The head of the hospital pharmacy reported the theft on 24 June. What is striking is the absence of any sign of forced entry on the safe where the vials were kept, the keys to which are held by several members of staff.

Prosecutors in Rome have opened an investigation. An initial report on the incident has been sent to the criminal court of the capital. The inquiries have been entrusted to the Carabinieri’s NAS unit. The case concerns allegations of theft and possession with intent to supply narcotic substances.

In the meantime, the Ministry of Health – at the instigation of Minister Schillaci – has launched an inspection through its competent offices. The ministry is also preparing “a new circular to further step up checks on the improper use and circulation of fentanyl and on how it is stored in medical and hospital facilities”.

The government’s response

The theft prompted an emergency meeting at Palazzo Chigi, chaired by undersecretary Alfredo Mantovano. During the meeting “the need to ensure compliance with the procedures laid down for the management of high-risk medicines, in order to protect public health and prevent similar incidents from happening again” was reiterated.

“In the coming days,” it was explained, “the monitoring committee on the implementation of the anti-fentanyl plan will be reconvened at Palazzo Chigi, with the aim of ensuring that all the parties involved put in place the necessary safeguards and controls”.

Meanwhile, the Lazio Region has ordered an extraordinary inspection visit to Rome’s Israelitic Hospital to check how the hospital pharmacy manages narcotic drugs.

At the same time, it “announces that it has instructed the territorially competent local health authorities to verify the proper management of narcotic drugs in the region’s various hospitals, thereby extending the control measures to the entire regional territory so as to guarantee the highest safety standards”.