DOH appeals SC order vs contraceptive implants

The Department of Health ( DOH) yesterday insisted on its bid in the Supreme Court (SC) to proceed with the procurement and distribution of controversial contraceptive implants under the Reproductive Health program.

In a 47- page motion filed by Health Secretary Paulyn Jean Ubial, the DOH appealed the ruling of the SC Second Division last August rejecting its pleading seeking to lift the high court’s temporary restraining order ( TRO) barring the DOH’s acquisition and distribution of contraceptive products Implanon and Implanon NXT to the public.

Petitioners also asked the SC to reconsider its ruling that struck down the certifications and re- certifications issued by the Food and Drug Administration ( FDA) on 77 contraceptive drugs and devices, including Implanon and Implanon NXT, for violation of the constitutional requirement of due process.

The DOH, joined by the FDA and Population Commission

(PopCom), argued that the ruling could jeopardize the effective methods of the Family Planning program, which is being implemented by them through local government units and civil society.

“If carried out, the SC decision could result in over 900 additional maternal deaths every year arising from almost one million unintended pregnancies that could have been addressed by the full implementation of the Family Planning Program,” PopCom executive director Juan Antonio Perez III said.

“Those who opposed the law in the legislative arena are now trying to reverse the judgment of history through backdoor judicial dilatory tactics, but the millions of Filipinos who stand to benefit from the law will surely bring all of this to an end,” he added.

In the assailed ruling, the high court has found that the agency certified and administered 77 contraceptive drugs and devices “without the observance of the basic tenets of due process, without notice and without public hearing, despite the constant opposition of petitioners.”

“The Court is of the view that the certifications and re-certifications and the distribution of the questioned contraceptive drugs should be struck down as violative of the constitutional right to due process,” read the ruling penned by Associate Justice Jose Mendoza.

While the high court denied the DOH’s motion to lift TRO and voided the certifi it still opted to remand the case to the FDA for processing of new certifications.

The SC specifically ordered the FDA “to observe the basic requirements of due process by conducting a hearing and allowing the petitioners to be heard, on the re-certified, procured and administered contraceptive drugs and devices, including Implanon and Implanon NXT; and to determine whether they are abortifacients or non-abortifacients.”

It directed the agency to start hearings within 30 days from receipt of notice.

The high court also directed the FDA to formulate rules for screening, evaluation and approval of all contraceptive drugs and devices to be used under the RH Law.

It likewise ordered the DOH to formulate rules for purchase and distribution of these products and to generate the complete list of government’s programs and services under the RH Law for distribution to all health care service providers.

Implanon and Implanon NXT are thin rods inserted under the skin, which release hormones that prevent pregnancy for up to three years.

The SC issued the TRO on distribution of the drugs in June last year for an indefinite period upon petition of Alliance for the Family Foundation Philippines Inc., which claimed that such contraceptives have abortifacient character.

The order covers “procuring, selling, distributing, dispensing or administering, advertising and promoting” these products.

The halt order also stopped the FDA from granting pending applications for contraceptives and other reproductive products. –