There is no scientific reason why emergency contraception products should not be authorised for sale in Malta, the Medicines Authority chief says.

Pharmacist Anthony Serracino Inglott argues in an opinion piece today that scientific studies show emergency contraception cannot interrupt an established pregnancy or harm a developing embryo.

His comments come as the Medicines Authority processes an application by a company seeking authorisation to import and distribute the Levonelle 1500mg tablet, one of two products used as emergency contraception.

Malta is the only EU country where consumers fearing pregnancy do not have access to medicinal products licensed as emergency contraception.

Prof. Serracino Inglott says medicinal products containing levonorgestral, the active ingredient in Levonelle, have been on the Maltese market for over 10 years.

This is a case where one should not call fire where there is no fire

The ordinary contraceptive pill contains levonorgestral, and it is an open secret that some doctors prescribe an overdose of the pill when patients ask for emergency contraception.

Prof. Serracino Inglott says the use of licensed medicine is safer than using a medicine for matters other than its intended use.

“Denying the medical profession, pharmacists and consumers availability of levonorgestrel… as a possible safer option to presently used unlicensed methods of emergency contraception in Malta does not make scientific or safety sense,” he says.

The Medicines Authority cannot prefer one product over another “simply because activists demand so”, Prof. Serracino Inglott adds.

The product literature, drafted after rigorous scientific analysis, shows that Levonelle prevents ovulation and fertilisation, he notes, and is not effective once the process of implantation has begun.

“This is a case where one should not call fire where there is no fire. The attitude of calling fire because there is the presence of wood does not make sense. Calling an oral contraceptive abortifacient is similar to calling a fire engine because there is the presence of wood,” he says.

The debate on the morning-after pill (as emergency contraception is generally referred to) was sparked by a group of women who, in a judicial protest against the State in June, asked for it to be legalised. The protest filed by the Women’s Rights Foundation was signed by 102 women, aged between 16 and 62.

The morning-after pill is deemed to be abortive by its critics, who claim it could prevent a fertilised egg from implanting in the womb.

A joint meeting of Parliament’s family, social and health affairs committees last month heard the views of different professionals and lobbyists on both sides of the debate.

Civil Liberties Minister Helena Dalli, under whose remit the Medicines Authority falls, has said she agrees with the morning-after pill, and she pledged to take the regulator’s advice on the matter.