On use of oxytocin in milk, HP High Court directs authorities to reply

The Himachal Pradesh High Court recently directed the state food and civil supplies director; the drug controller, the drug controller-general of India, the health secretary of the Central government and the state health safety and regulations director to submit their replies on the issue of the large-scale use of harmful oxytocin vaccine in milk, fruits and vegetables. 

A Division Bench, comprising Chief Justice Mansoor Ahmad Mir and Justice Tarlok Singh Chauhan, passed these orders on a petition taken up suo moto by the Court as a public interest litigation (PIL) on a report published in a Hindi daily on the misuse of the vaccine.

In the reply submitted before the Court, the state government submitted that oxytocin was a drug covered under Schedule H of the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940, and sold strictly on prescription of a registered medical practitioner only. 

There is a proper check on the sale of the injection, and regular inspections of chemists and drug manufacturers are conducted through regulatory mechanisms. 

The government submitted that there were 14 manufacturers of the injection in Himachal Pradesh. It was being manufactured for human use and not for veterinary use, and no contravention with respect to its manufacture, sale and distribution was reported.

It was alleged in the newspaper report that the large-scale use of the oxytocin vaccine was on the rise in Himachal Pradesh in milk, vegetables, fruit and non-vegetarian products, and it was the source of a number of harmful side effects. 

The vaccine was used to increase the milk production of milch cattle, and enlarge the size of vegetables and fruit and to improve their colour and shine.

It could have a wide range of side effects, including brain damage, blood cancer, low blood pressure, silent heart attack, cardiac arithemia, pelvic hematoma and impaired uterine blood flow. 

The news item had also reported that there was large-scale production of oxytocin in the state’s pharmaceutical hubs, Baddi, Barotiwala and Nalagarh, and illegal production in the industrial areas of District Sirmour.

The Court has appointed Advocate Satyen Vaidya as Amicus Curiae in the case and posted the matter for December 22, 2014.