Russia’s Health Ministry approves two popular emergency contraceptives for over-the-counter sale

The popular emergency contraception drugs Postinor and Escapelle can now be sold over the counter in Russia after the Russian Health Ministry reclassified them as non-prescription drugs, reports Kommersant.

Postinor and Escapelle are medications containing the active ingredient levonorgestrel (a synthetic progestogen hormone). They differ in dosage but have the same effect.

At the end of 2023, Russia’s Health Ministry added misoprostol and mifepristone, which are used in medical abortion, to its list of drugs subject to specific quantity control. Mifepristone is also used in small doses as an emergency contraceptive. Drugs on the list are subject to strict record-keeping by hospitals and pharmacies, and doctors are only able to prescribe medications containing them using a special form that requires extensive information and multiple official stamps.

The fact that the Health Ministry restricted the distribution of drugs containing misoprostol and mifepristone while allowing non-prescription status for levonorgestrel has raised questions among those in the pharmaceutical market. Nikolay Bespalov, development director of the market research company RNC Pharma, said the decision amounted to “giving certain market players more favorable conditions.”

In response, the Russian Health Ministry told Kommersant that levonorgestrel and mifepristone belong to different pharmacotherapeutic groups and emphasized that control measures for drugs from different pharmacotherapeutic groups should not be compared.