Medicines Authority chief Professor Anthony Serracino Inglott stood by his statement that licensing the Morning After Pill (MAP) will reduce the rate at which abortions are carried out in Malta, despite the Medical Association of Malta demanding he retract his claim.
In a press conference this afternoon, Prof Serracino Inglott explained that it is a fact that some women who are worried they might have become pregnant can seek out some doctors who would prescribe then off-label medicines that have the same effect. He said that the medicines would not be prescribed for their intended purposes (hence off-label), some, like the contraceptive pill, if taken at a higher dose can have the same effect as the MAP.
“I do not wish to offend or shock anybody, but this is a fact. Asking to prove or for names of these doctors is all useless. We all know that this is a fact,” he said.
“If the morning-after-pill can be considered an abortifacient, then the same can be said for other medications that doctors are already prescribing to their patients,” he said. “Moreover, it is a fact that several Maltese women travel abroad to have an abortion,” Prof Serracino Inglott said on a PBS current affairs programme.
This prompted MAM president Gordon Caruana Dingli to issue a statement saying that Prof Serracino Inglott’s claims are “unsubstantiated” and “risk tarnishing the reputation of the entire medical profession.”
He added that abortion is a criminal offence and that such a statement “worries the public.”
Mr Caruana Dingli then asked the Prof Serracino Inglott and the rest of the members on the Medicines Authority board to disclose any conflicts of interest in view of his claims, while on the PBS show, that pharmacists had revealed to him whether they were willing to sell MAP. Mr Caruana Dingli called this “commercially sensitive material.”
On this allegation, Prof Serracino Inglott declared, unequivocally, that neither him not any board members have some form of conflict of interest. He confirmed that the majority of pharmacists would be willing to sell the emergency contraception, and that this information was passed on to him voluntarily.
“Are we now going to say that authorities across Europe have a conflict of interest? How ridiculous. As soon as I began my career at the Medicines Authority I made sure that I have zero ties with any pharmaceutical companies and I ensure that I do not earn not one cent, wage, salary, dividends or anything from a medicine.”
Professor Serracino Inglott pleaded with the press to pass on the message that the Medicines Authority has no intention of licensing 30 kinds of MAP, where some are known to have abortifacient effects. He explained that it is two brands that will be licensed, with two separate active ingredients.
He stressed that the Medicines Authority is open and always replies to questions. He said that prior to the decision being taken about MAP, he discussed extensively with the Labour Party Parliamentary Group, the Archbishop and a representative from the Nationalist Party to answer their questions. He said he spent hours with the former two, and that he offered to meet with the PN parliamentary group but they appeared to not have taken up the offer.
Asked about whether Mater Dei should be stocked with the emergency contraception for cases of rapes, Prof Serracino Inglott agreed and said it would be inhumane to add another obstacle to a woman who has passed through such a trauma.
“Imagine if after all the tests and scans are taken at hospital, it’s evening-time and pharmacists are closed. It’s not fair to treat people like that.”