Delhi HC quashes ban on private producers of Oxytocin

Delhi HC quashes ban on private producers of Oxytocin

News

The Delhi High Court has recently overruled the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare’s decision to ban the manufacture and sale of drug Oxytocin stating that the ban was arbitrary, unreasonable and unscientific.

Important facts

1. The Health Ministry had called for a ban on private producers of oxytocin in 2018, to curb the alleged misuse and abuse of the drug in dairy industry and in trafficking or sex work.
2. The ministry had further decided that only one public sector manufacturer, the Karnataka Antibiotics & Pharmaceuticals Limited (KAPL), would be given the license to produce Oxytocin. Further, it could be sold only through registered hospitals under the Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Janaushadhi Pariyojana (PMBJP) and the Affordable Medicines and Reliable Implants for Treatment (AMRIT).

About Oxytocin

1. Oxytocin is naturally secreted by the pituitary glands of mammals during sex, childbirth, lactation or social bonding, and is sometimes called “love hormone”.
2. Gynaecologists often prescribe the hormone to strengthen contractions during childbirth and control bleeding after.
3. The drug is part of India’s National List of Essential Medicines.