The Japanese Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare's deliberations on the approval of the abortion drug MEFEEGO PACK (Mifepristone + Misoprostol), scheduled for today, are expected to be postponed.
This is because the Ministry has not been able to sort through the 12,000 public comments collected from the public in February.
It has not yet been decided when the next deliberation will take place.
The four items scheduled for discussion today were：
1. whether or not the drug Mefeego Pack should be designated as a biological product or a specific biological product
2. whether or not a marketing authorization is granted;
3. whether or not a reexamination period is designated; and
4. whether or not the designation as a poisonous or deleterious drug is required.
I was concerned whether the abortion drug to be approved would be strictly controlled as a deleterious drug, similar to gemeprost (product name Pregrandin), which is exclusively used for mid-term abortions in Japan.
The Japanese government has approved Misoprostol as a prescription drug to treat gastric ulcers, but has also designated it as a deleterious drug.
We need to carefully watch the future moves of the MHLW.
