Maha FDA Set To Prosecute Online Illegal Abortion Drug Racket In State

Mumbai, 10 June 2019: The Maharashtra Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) has detected an online illegal abortion drug racket and has lodged 7 FIRs to curb the practice. Prosecutions will follow after the complaint is framed as per the Drugs and Cosmetics (D&C) Act.

As a part of the crackdown, the state FDA has revealed that Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) pills which is a scheduled drug was traded online in contravention to the law of the land. MTP is a schedule H drug and can be taken only against the prescription of a qualified gynaecologist.

MTP Kit is a set of two essential abortion medicines -Mifepristone and Misoprostol which performs medical pregnancy termination (non-surgical embryo expel from womb) and should be taken only under the supervision and prescription of a gynaecologist.

This is the latest in the series of such cases where offenders used to stock and sell MTP kits in a clandestine manner without a license and trade it online.

FDA has booked offenders under different sections of Drug and Magic Remedies (DMR) Act, Essential Commodities (EC) Act and D&C Act."

An inter-state abortion drug racket with its network spanning across Gujarat and Delhi was the first case in the series unearthed by the FDA team two years ago in which drugs worth over Rs. 3 lakh were confiscated and three people were found contravening the provisions of the law under different sections of EC Act and D&C Act.

MTP pills are recommended by physicians only for pregnancies that haven't exceeded 63 days. Medical abortion pills are prescription drugs that are different from emergency contraceptive pills. They are taken between 7 and 9 weeks of pregnancy and cause the embryo to be expelled from the uterus.

An official further elaborated that Rule 64 of the D&C Rules, 1945 stipulates that a licence in Form 20, 20B, 20F, 20G, 21 or 21B to sell, stock, exhibit or offer for sale or distribute drugs shall not be granted or renewed to any person unless the authority empowered to grant the licence is satisfied that the premises in respect of which the licence is to be granted or renewed is adequate and equipped with proper storage accommodation.

Gujarat Food and Drug Control Administration (FDCA) this year also raided an unauthorised premise in Rajkot and seized 171 boxes of MTP kits worth Rs. 12 lakh.

Three people were booked for illegally stocking and selling the kits without license in contravention to the provisions of Section 18(c) of the D&C Act.

As per the investigations, MTP kits were being manufactured by Accent Pharmaceuticals and Diagnostics at Solan in Himachal Pradesh and marketed by PHSI Services based out of Telangana. Three people were illegally selling these MTP kits under the brand name Khusi MT kits without bills and without a valid license. Pharmabiz