Abortion pills can be fatal if not prescribed

New Delhi: A 20-year-old woman was brought to Delhi's Safdarjung hospital on Monday with acute blood loss, doctors were shocked to find her haemoglobin level, which was at an alarming two units that could lead to heart failure. Later, the lady was found to be consuming pills to abort her unwanted pregnancy that she had purchased over the counter from a medical store. This was just not the one case, many such cases have been reported at different city hospitals every day, official revealed. However, the easy availability of medical termination of pregnancy (MTP) kits in the open market has spurt the cases of young women consuming these drugs without consulting medical practitioners, he added.

Moreover, the institutes like AIIMS, Safdarjung, Lady Hardinge and Sir Ganga Ram Hospital have been witnessing a spurt in patients with complaints of severe anaemia owing to blood loss, cardiac failure and hemorrhagic shock, doctor informed. Referring to the citied case, the 20-year-old girl case, doctor informed when she was brought to the hospital, her condition was serious. She was immediately shifted to the critical care, where she is undergoing the treatment.

Experts said that as per law, these kits can only sold to patients on prescription of a qualified doctor and any violation is a punishable offence. "As of now, such cases were only treated under emergency and no official record of their MTP was maintained", a doctor at safdajung hospital said.

Shockingly, these kits are openly available at the medical stores outside the AIIMS and Safdarjung hospital and patients can buy the drug without any prescription from these shops, he added.

"These pills have severe side effects and before prescribing them to a patient we conduct several tests. It has been noticed that women take these pills on their own, thus leading to serious complications including cases of heart failure," said Dr Mala Srivastava, gynaecologist at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital.

"At least four to six such cases come in every day at AIIMS and they come to us with unstoppable bleeding. Easy availability of these pills in the market is mainly responsible for the situation, said a doctor at AIIMS. Moreover, the number of such patients at Safdarjung Hospital, which has a gynaecology emergency ward, is even higher. A gynaecologist at the hospital informed that atleast 12 to 15 women come every day with serious complications. Around 10 such cases come here every day, said a doctor of Lady Hardinge Hospital.

The doctor added that patients mostly suffering from acute blood loss with high chances of cardiac failure and haemorrhagic shock. Immediate blood transfusion at times also becomes difficult owing to unavailability of blood and it takes at least three hours for patients to get stabilised, adding that chances of death are quite high.

A senior doctor said the patients are mostly young unmarried women in the age group of 20 to 30 years.

Following counseling, it has been found that they purchased these pills from chemists only to hide their pregnancy from families. Dr Mala Srivastava, gynaecologist at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, said, definitely, MTP kits are being misused as patients do not know their proper usage. It should always be taken under doctors supervision.