Maharashtra FDA issues notices to Amazon, Flipkart over 'sale' of pregnancy termination pills

MUMBAI: The Maharashtra Food and Drug Authority (FDA) on Thursday said it has issued notices to e-commerce giants Amazon and Flipkart after it allegedly found that pregnancy termination kits and pills are available for sale on these platforms without prescription.

The Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940 prohibits online distribution of such medicines without any prescription, it said in a statement here.

Acting on a tip-off, the FDA placed orders for "medical termination of pregnancy" kits on Amazon, and the order was accepted by some suppliers based in Uttar Pradesh and Odisha, the authority alleged.

A similar case was found with Flipkart, the FDA alleged. The statement did not give any details of the notices. All in all, it "checked" 34 e-commerce portals to see if they sell medicines without prescriptions, the FDA said.