Lugones after the complaint: 'We are not going to allow access to the system through deception'

National Health Minister Mario Lugones confirmed that the ministry he oversees will file criminal charges against those who cheated on the entrance exam for medical residencies.

According to reports, the complaint is against the Ecuadorian doctor who used smart glasses to record and transmit the exam and was filed for "fraud against the public administration."

It was also reported that the lawsuit will proceed against those who contributed or collaborated as instigators, necessary participants, accomplices, or accessories.

Mario Lugones's statement after the criminal complaint

"We have filed a criminal complaint against those who cheated on the medical residency exam. From the Ministry of Health, we won't allow access to the system through deception," Lugones stated emphatically.

"Admission to residencies is the first step in caring for the health of Argentinians: behind every doctor, there are patients who deserve the best care. Defending merit means ensuring quality, commitment, and responsibility in healthcare," he added.

What happened with the medical residency exams in Argentina

In the context of the investigation into fraud in the Unified Entrance Exam for medical residencies, Lugones officially announced that 127 entrants will not have to retake the test administered last July 1, while 141 applicants will have to appear for a new evaluation on August 7.

The statement details that the Committee of Experts, formed to analyze the highest scores on the exam, validated the grades of 127 entrants, mostly graduates of Argentine universities.

According to the health ministry, the decision was made after confirming "the academic consistency between exam performance, the average during the degree program, individual academic trajectories, and the institutional background of the university of origin, including its international recognition."

In contrast, the Ministry decided that 141 candidates, almost all of whom are foreigners, will have to retake the exam, which will be conducted in written and in-person format. The measure, they state, aims to "guarantee fairness, transparency, and meritocracy in access to medical residencies in the public system."

An Ecuadorian doctor cheated on the medical residency exam

Several days ago, a test went viral showing how a foreign applicant—identified as Alejandro David Castillo Adrián, an Ecuadorian national—took the exam using Ray-Ban Meta glasses with a built-in camera, recording the content of the test.

The material was sent from the bathroom, where those involved had access to their cell phones, to third parties who solved the questions from outside. Then, the candidates returned to the classroom with the answers.

This modus operandi, sophisticated yet effective, involved multiple bathroom trips by those involved, which contrasted with the behavior of the other applicants.

The scheme resulted in unusual statistical jumps: universities that had never managed to place students among the top 500 in the ranking suddenly had several among the top 30. "The statistical curve is directly broken," ministry sources pointed out.