Istanbul prosecutor seeks up to five years in jail for man who sold banned stomach pill as ‘abortion pill’
ISTANBUL
The Health Ministry in 2012 banned the sale in pharmacies of “Cytotec,” which had been used to cure stomach disorders, as it could have the side effect of causing pregnant women to have a miscarriage. As a result, “Cytotec” can currently be used only for hospital patients.
The Istanbul Chamber of Pharmacists, however, discovered that a 41-year-old man, identified only as Talat E., was marketing the medicine, previously worth 10 Turkish Liras per pill, online for 300-500 liras.
Police then detained Talat E., who is married with two children, though he denied the charges against him. He is currently on trial without arrest, on charges of “selling banned medicine in a way to endanger human life.”
Internet sites on which the man sold the pills marketed the product with slogans such as “definite solution,” “you will have a miscarriage in a healthy and comfortable way without needing an abortion,” “the medication that lets you miscarry,” and “an abortion pill without an abortion.”
Istanbul University Cerrahpaşa Medical Faculty gynecologist Prof. Dr. Rıza Madazlı told daily Habertürk that it was legal to use the pills for the purpose of miscarriage, if prescribed by a recognized doctor.
“But if it is obtained and used illegally, this medicine can cause death. It should be taken under a doctor’s supervision in hospital,” Madazlı said.