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Argentina Bill Seeks Tighter Propofol Controls After Hospital Diversion Cases

The proposal centralizes oversight under ANMAT to close hospital gaps that allowed the anesthetic to be stolen and misused.

Overview

  • Deputy Silvana Giudici introduced the bill in the Chamber of Deputies on Wednesday, following recent deaths and active probes into alleged thefts of propofol from hospitals.
  • The draft requires locked or access-controlled storage, assigns key custody to designated pharmacy or anesthesiology leaders, and bans open-shelf stock in clinical areas.
  • In operating rooms, emergency bays, and ICUs, propofol could only sit in crash or anesthesia carts with secure locks to curb casual access by staff.
  • Hospitals must log each use by lot, dose, date, coded patient ID, and administering professional, and report any loss, diversion, misuse, or adverse event to ANMAT at once.
  • The plan seeks to add propofol to ANMAT’s High-Risk Medicines list, cites Penal Code penalties for concealment or facilitation, and has backing that outlets report as either 14 bloc allies or more than 25 cross-party co-sponsors.