Prosecutor shelves complaint over expired reagents at Hospital de la Axarquía

Málaga's provincial prosecutor's office (Fiscalía) has closed its proceedings over a union complaint alleging that expired reagents were used in the laboratory of the Hospital de la Axarquía. The decision matters to patients across the Axarquía district, which the hospital serves.

Key facts

• Decision: The Fiscalía Provincial de Málaga has shelved the proceedings it opened after the complaint, according to Diario Sur.
• Reasoning: The Ministerio Público found no minimal evidence of a crime that would justify a criminal investigation, as reported by the Junta de Andalucía on Tuesday 10 November.
• Complainant: The union CSIF (Central Sindical Independiente y de Funcionarios) filed the complaint.
• Location: The hospital's laboratory in Torre del Mar, in the municipality of Vélez-Málaga.

What was alleged

The dispute goes back to February, when CSIF publicly denounced the alleged use of reagents (the chemical substances used in laboratory analysis equipment). According to the union, these should have been withdrawn because they were past their expiry date, had lost the stability conditions required by manufacturers, or had been reused.

CSIF argued at the time that such practices could affect the reliability of certain clinical tests. It called for an investigation to establish whether irregularities had occurred and who might be responsible.

Reaction and context

Diario Sur said the decision comes after several months of controversy over how the laboratory operates. It also noted that the party Adelante had taken the alleged use of expired reagents to the Andalusian Parliament.

Málaga Hoy has also covered the case. One of its headlines says the Fiscalía rules out the use of reagents in poor condition, and another reports that doctors at the hospital backed the laboratory and denied using reagents in poor condition. The text of those reports was not available to us, so we rely here on their headlines only.

What it means

The closure applies to the criminal side of the matter: the prosecutor found no basis for a criminal investigation. Readers wanting more detail can consult the original reports in Diario Sur and Málaga Hoy and the information published by the Junta de Andalucía.