A group of 57 consultants at Children’s Health Ireland (CHI) have called on the HSE to stop using medicines manufactured by Israeli firm Teva Pharmaceutical Industries where “viable alternatives” are available. The company, whose products include Sudocrem (above), is ranked as one of the world’s biggest makers of generic and specialist drugs.
In a letter to CHI chief executive Lucy Nugent and Minister for Health Jennifer Carroll MacNeill, the paediatric consultants expressed concern about “the ongoing humanitarian catastrophe” in Gaza, which has been widely recognised as meeting the legal definition of genocide by international authorities, such as the UN and the International Court of Justice (ICJ).
Genocide
It further claims, “Teva, as Israel’s largest pharmaceutical company, operates under the jurisdiction of and contributes to the economy of a state currently under investigation for genocide”. The tax paid by Teva to the Israeli government “directly funds the diplomatic and military resources employed by the Israeli government to carry out a genocide and silence dissent domestically and internationally.”
A spokesman for Teva told The Irish Times that the company adheres to the “highest standards and ethics in business practices”. He added that any boycott of Teva, which is one of the HSE’s biggest suppliers of generic medicines, could pose a risk to the health and wellbeing of patients, the healthcare systems they serve, the global workforce and their families.
Teva moved production of Sudocrem from its Dublin factory to Bulgaria as part of “a global manufacturing optimization plan” by the parent company. The Dublin facility, where the antiseptic healing cream for treating nappy rash, burns and various other skin ailments had been made since the 1980s, was closed in 2023.
