Italian officials seek to curb Teva drug use in public pharmacies

In the coastal town of Fano, the municipal opposition council passed a motion urging the city to adopt ethical criteria for purchasing and dispensing generic medicines, specifically calling for a ban on drugs produced by Israel‑based Teva Group and its brands Ratiopharm, Dorom and Cephalon. The motion cites UN resolutions on the Israel‑Palestine conflict and asks the local health authority (Aset) to stop proposing or stocking Teva equivalents in the eight municipal pharmacies until Israeli military operations in Gaza and the West Bank cease.

At the national level, Simona Loizzo, the Lega’s lead on social affairs in the Chamber of Deputies, argued that the ongoing revision of Italy’s drug formulary must balance cost savings with clinical value. She warned against grouping innovative and non‑innovative medicines together, emphasizing that treatments for complex cancers should not be judged solely on price. Loizzo highlighted that recent AIFA measures have kept spending on targeted drug classes under control, but she called for safeguards to protect patients with chronic and life‑threatening conditions.