Irish medical consultants urged a ban on to Israeli medicine for children: Teva warns of patient risks

The consultants argued that Teva, by paying taxes in Israel, ‘directly funds’ the government’s military resources.

By Vered Weiss, World Israel News

Over 50 consultants at Children’s Health Ireland (CHI) have called on the government to stop procuring medicines manufactured by Israeli pharmaceutical giant Teva when “viable alternatives” exist, according to Irish media reports.

In a letter sent Friday to CHI chief executive Lucy Nugent and Health Minister Jennifer Carroll MacNeill, 57 pediatric consultants linked their demand to what they described as the “ongoing humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza,” claiming it met the legal definition of genocide as recognized by bodies such as the United Nations and the International Court of Justice.

Ireland has already joined South Africa’s genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice, emphasizing its critical stance toward Israel’s campaign against Hamas terrorists.

The consultants argued that Teva, by paying taxes in Israel, “directly funds” the government’s military resources and accused the company of supplying Israeli forces with medical equipment allegedly used in Gaza.

“We respectfully request that CHI take immediate steps to discontinue the procurement and use of pharmaceuticals manufactured by Teva where viable alternatives exist,” the letter stated.

Teva strongly rejected the claims. A spokesman told the Irish Times the company adheres to “the highest standards in ethics and business practices” and stressed that patients depend on its medicines.

“Any boycott on Teva may impose a risk on the health and well-being of those patients, the healthcare systems we serve, our global workforce and their families,” he said. Teva, one of the world’s largest producers of generic drugs, contributed $226 million to Ireland’s economy last year and estimates it has saved the Irish health system more than €1.5 billion in the past decade through generic substitution.

This is not the first time public services in Ireland have been pressured to distance themselves from Israeli firms. Earlier this year, police resisted calls to abandon Cellebrite, an Israeli digital forensics tool credited with solving violent crimes.

Gardaí Commissioner Drew Harris said the system was indispensable, explaining, “It’s a tool that we need to properly investigate crime… we’d be very reluctant to step away from a very important tool.”