Gurgaon: Health officials in the city have booked three chemists for illegally selling medical termination of pregnancy (MTP) kits — commonly known as abortion kits — without official supervision.
A decoy customer went to three chemists, operating on Kasan Road in Manesar, on Saturday and all of them sold the kits. None of them could provide details of how many MTP kits they have sold and to whom. Their premises were raided and the shops were shut down.
Three separate FIRs were registered against the accused under various provisions, including the National Medical Commission Act, 2019 and the Essential Commodities Act, 1955.
A health department official said, “The shops were sealed and the evidence, including the currency notes and MTP kits, was handed over to the police.” Selling MTP kits without proper authorisation and at prices above the MRP poses significant health risks to patients and is punishable.
A confidential complaint had alleged that despite holding retail sale drug licences under the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940, the chemists were violating the MTP Act, 1971 by selling the kits without a registered medical practitioner. Officials deployed the decoy customer who approached the chemists seeking abortion medication.
The chemists allegedly supplied the MTP kits and gave usage instructions in clear violation of legal requirements.
The customer was confirmed to be pregnant through an ultrasound. She approached the chemists and requested medication to terminate her pregnancy. Upon completion of the transaction, the customer reported back to officials — present near the shop — who raided the shops.
The MTP kit was found to be an “Unwanted Kit” with an expiration date of Jan 2027. The MRP on the kit was obscured with a black marker. The chemists were unable to produce any valid registration or prescription records for the sale of these kits.
The operation highlighted gross violations of the MTP Act, 1971 and the Drugs Price Control Order, 2013. These crackdowns are being conducted to improve the sex-at-birth ratio in the state. Last year, thirteen of Haryana’s 22 districts saw a fall in the sex ratio at birth, taking the state’s overall SRB for the year to 910, which was its lowest since 2016.
This year, sources said, SRB improved to 911, citing the central govt’s civil registration system (CRS). At 834, Haryana’s SRB was the lowest among all Indian states when data was studied in the 2011 Census. The state improved its count to 923 by 2019 but started seeing a downward trend thereafter.
Additional chief secretary (health) Sudhir Rajpal last month told the health department to take strict action against any illegal practice and monitor data from MTP centres. The state drug controller was instructed to compile a list of MTP kit wholesalers and ensure that the kits are only sold to registered MTP centres.
