Health authorities in Italy on Wednesday said they opened an ethics probe into the actions of a physician and a nurse who had filmed themselves at work throwing away packages of medical supplies produced by Teva Pharmaceuticals to promote a boycott of the Israeli firm.
The health professionals, who trashed the medications for a video they uploaded to social media, apologized for their actions at a public health facility near Arezzo, located about 130 miles north of Rome, and said the packages were recovered from the bins and not actually discarded.
A spokesperson for the South East Tuscany Health Authority (ASL) told the Corriere Fiorentino newspaper that the institution “has already taken steps to analyze the incident and reserves the right to take any necessary action to protect its image.” The filming was “taken inside a company building” and was “in no way authorized,” the spokesperson added.
In the apology video that the health professionals filmed together, the physician said: “We apologize to all those who were offended by our video. It was a symbolic gesture aimed at peace. We did not intend to offend anyone or involve the company.”
The nurse added: “We’re truly sorry,” the newspaper quoted the nurse as saying in the video published on Tuesday.
The physician also said the packages were free samples and that the videos were filmed after office hours.
Noemi Di Segni, president of the Union of Italian Jewish Communities, condemned the health professionals’ actions in a statement to JNS on Thursday.
“It is shameful that those who, by profession and ethics, must save lives, participate in this form of double boycott,” she said. The health professionals, she noted, “didn’t ask themselves where the hostages’ medicines are, or who has ever visited them.”
