The Department of Health plans to allow drug stores to sell the controversial abortion pill RU-486 instead of limiting the right to dispense the drug to gynecologists.
If the decision is made law, it will be a big about-face, following the health department's Dec. 28 announcement that the pill would be available only with a doctor's prescription and could not be sold in drug stores.
At that time, the department also stressed that the drug could only be used by women who were less than seven-weeks pregnant and would have to be taken under a doctor's supervision.
Director-general Li Jih-heng (李志恆) of the National Bureau of Controlled Drugs (管制藥品管理局) said yesterday that because RU-486 is classified as a fourth-grade controlled pill (第四級管制藥品), its usage was already regulated by law. The law stipulates that as long as a drug store has a license to sell controlled drugs, it can also apply to sell RU-486.
Li said that if drug stores are permitted to sell RU-486, the bureau will request stores to keep clear usage records and keep the prescription for each pill. If any drug abuse is uncovered, the store will be fined at least NT$60,000 and could have its license revoked.
After learning that the policy might be changed, Su Tsung-hsien (
Su said the health department's policy flip-flop could threaten a women's health.
The pill, which was first introduced in France 12 years ago, has been available through Taiwan's black market for several years and more recently through the Internet, where the three initial pills cost between NT$4,800 and NT$6,000.
The drug's original manufacturer, Hoechst, has cut all ties to RU-486 due to public opposition to its use and stopped production of it. The company has given the rights for production outside of the US to a French nonprofit organization.
The pill only costs about NT$500 a dose at public hospitals.
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