Quinacrine sterilisations banned
Rao, M.
Health for the Millions 24(3): 14
1998
ISSN/ISBN: 0970-8685 PMID: 12293800 Document Number: 276254
On March 16, 1998, the Drug Controller of India gave a written commitment to the country's Supreme Court to ban the use of quinacrine for female sterilization in India. In addition, the government prohibited the manufacture, sale, or distribution of quinacrine in pellet form. The penalty for violating this legislation consists of imprisonment for a term of 5 years to life, and a fine of no less than 10,000 rupees. While this positive intervention of India's Supreme Court in the illegal sterilization of women with quinacrine has been lauded as a significant victory for the women's movement and something which will help the international movement against the misuse of the drug, much more remains to be done for women who have undergone quinacrine sterilization. Quinacrine trials have been conducted among mainly poor women in developing countries despite the World Health Organization's call for ceasing human trials pending further laboratory-based toxicology tests. Initial such tests have suggested an association between quinacrine sterilization and the development of cancer.