The situation

Another day, another medical group deciding to cut ties with Teva UK. The Royal College of Pharmacy—which represents 34,000 pharmacists—is the latest to drop the Israeli pharmaceutical firm as a sponsor. They’ve pulled the plug on Teva’s spot as an exhibitor at their upcoming annual conference, walking away from a £15,000 deal.

This follows the Royal College of Nursing (RCN), which represents 500,000 nurses, doing the exact same thing last week.

How we got here

Pro-Palestine activists, specifically a group called UK Healthcare Petitions to Royal Colleges, have been putting in work to highlight these partnerships. They pointed out that professional bodies didn't hesitate to pull investments from Russian firms after the 2022 Ukraine invasion, and they wanted that same energy applied to commercial partnerships involving Israel.

When asked about the decision, the Royal College of Pharmacy cited a "due diligence review" that turned up unspecified activities from the company that didn't align with their values.

The background noise

To be fair, Teva has had a pretty chaotic track record with corporate ethics. We’re talking about a €462.6m fine from the European Commission in 2024 for blocking competition, a $225m penalty for price-fixing in the U.S. in 2023, and a massive $519m settlement back in 2016 for bribing officials in Russia, Ukraine, and Mexico.

Teva, for its part, says they’re "disappointed" and lowkey annoyed that healthcare is getting politicized. They claim they don't donate to political or military entities and are just trying to get meds to patients.

Why it matters

Activists aren't stopping at nursing and pharmacy groups. They’re now applying pressure to the royal colleges representing GPs, psychiatrists, and hospital doctors. Real talk: the organizers are hoping these exits force a much bigger conversation in NHS boardrooms about whether accepting a sponsor’s cheque should be a green light for compromising an organization's moral stance. The plot thickens for Teva as they lose more institutional clout.