Abortion drugs selling freely online, says pharma body

NAGPUR: The Maharashtra Registered Pharmacists Association (MRPA) has claimed that many online shopping portals are openly selling scheduled drugs for pregnancy termination without prescription.
To prove this, MRPA members across the state ordered the pregnancy termination drugs from a famous shopping website. Members from Mumbai and Pune received their orders over the past three days while a member from Nagpur received it on Monday.None of these buyers was asked for a prescription from a registered obstetrician or gynecologist, which is a must to buy these drugs. Moreover, they were given more than 20% discount on its printed price.
MRPA president Kailash Tandale claimed that the international online shopping company has already stopped sales after they came to know about MRPA’s campaign.
“MRPA members have receipts as well as the medicine we received from the shopping website. However, the website has taken the hint and stopped sale of this drug from June 2,” said Tandale.
While a leading website has stopped sale, some small websites and online pharmacies are still selling it. While most of them insist on free pre-registration of the user, only a few of them ask to upload prescription and submit age proof.
Selling abortion pills without prescription and age proof is illegal and a punishable offence under the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act (MTPA).
However, there are no specific regulations on online sale of these drugs. FDA authorities appear helpless as the government is yet to adopt the policy which has been proposed by the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) to regulate this sale.
A senior official from FDA Nagpur told TOI that Maharashtra FDA had shut down 50-55 portals that sold medicines illegally without prescription in the past two years. “But the websites can be relaunched within a few minutes with a changed IP addresses. Moreover, such medicines are supplied from other states,” he said.
In fact, the medicines ordered by MRPA members came from a private medicine supplier based in Dibai town of Bulandshahar district in UP. TOI tried to contact the Maharashtra office of website, from where the MRPA members ordered the drugs. However, the official there refused to comment before consulting with their national head.
“We connect buyers with vendors through our website. All wholesalers attached to us are registered and legal establishments. As far as this drug is concerned, it is openly available in medical shops too,” said the official, who was not willing to be named.
Doctors said the issue is of grave concern. “Taking such pills without a doctor’s advice can lead to major complications and may prove fatal in some cases. It is better to visit gynecologists as option of legal termination of pregnancy is available.
The MTPA in India is a liberal law and ensures complete confidentiality and freedom to women,” said Dr Laxmi Shrikhande, former senior vice-president of the Federation of Obstetric and Gynaecological Societies of India (FOGSI).
Read this report in Bengali