Doctor faces court on abortion drug

A doctor is to face court over the illegal supply of abortion drug misoprostol, the Crown Prosecution Service has said.

Metropolitan Police have been authorised to charge Dr Majeed Ridha with encouraging or assisting either the administration or the supply of the drug with intent to procure a miscarriage.

The charge relates to an investigation by The Sunday Times newspaper involving an undercover journalist conducted in September 2012.

Ridha will appear before court in London next month.

The CPS said Ridha faces a charge of encouraging or assisting an offence, contrary to section 46 of the Serious Crime Act 2007. He is alleged to have encouraged an offence under either section 58 or section 59 of the Offences Against the Person Act 1861.

London chief prosecutor Baljit Ubhey said: " We have determined that there is sufficient evidence for a realistic prospect of conviction and that a prosecution is in the public interest."

No further action will be taken against a pharmacist connected with the newspaper investigation.

Ridha will appear before Westminster Magistrates Court on April 10.

Ridha is 64 and from Woking.

According to the NHS website, misoprostol is a medicine which is also used in treatment and prevention of gastrointestinal ulcers.

It works by reducing the amount of acid in your stomach, the NHS website states. It also protects the lining of the stomach and intestine from the effects of acid by increasing the amount of bicarbonate and mucus in the stomach.

The drug should not be used for women planning to conceive, it adds.