Context

The question of banning oxytocin has been referred to a three judge bench of the Supreme Court

About

Background

• The health ministry in April 2018 notified a ban on private firms from manufacturing and selling oxytocin, stating that it wanted to restrict the responsibility of supplying the drug to a Karnataka-based public sector manufacturer to avoid its misuse in the veterinary field.
• Then, the Delhi High Court quashed the above notification.
• As a result, the central government moved Supreme Court against the Delhi high court order.

Oxytocin

• It has also been dubbed the hug hormone, cuddle chemical, moral molecule, and the bliss hormone due to its effects on behavior, including its role in love and in female reproductive biological functions in reproduction.
• It is a hormone that is made in the brain, in the hypothalamus. It is transported to, and secreted by, the pituitary gland, which is located at the base of the brain.
• It acts both as a hormone and as a brain neurotransmitter.
• The release of oxytocin by the pituitary gland acts to regulate two female reproductive functions: Childbirth and Breast-feeding.
• It induces contractions of the uterine muscles and initiates labour for the child birth.

Issue

• It is misused by the dairy owners on milch animals to artificially extract milk.
• It is also used irrationally by farmers to enhance the size and appearance of the fruits and vegetables.