Remember the pharmacist problem in Texas?
 

Well, here is the next step in the God-complex infecting the pharmacists here in north Texas. Enough is ENOUGH. :mad:

I've had it with pharmacists imposing their moral code on everyone else. Her belated comment that BC pills "cause cancer" was too convenient, too inaccurate, and too late.

Where does it goes next?? Does the pimply faced teenager at McDonald's get to refuse to serve a Quarter Pounder to an overweight person and insist that he have a salad instead?

http://www.dallasnews.com/s/dws/news...lls.62c30.html

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Pharmacist refuses to refill birth control
Area woman denied pill in what some fear is becoming trend

12:41 PM CST on Wednesday, March 31, 2004

By GRETEL C. KOVACH / The Dallas Morning News

A pharmacist refused to fill a North Richland Hills woman's prescription for birth-control pills this week, but the woman hopes her experience will provoke an examination of pharmacists' power over patient care.

Julee Lacey, 32, a first-grade teacher and mother of two, ran out of birth-control pills Sunday night and went to her local CVS pharmacy for a last-minute refill. The new pharmacist at the branch told her, "I'm sorry, but I personally do not believe in birth control, so I will not fill your prescription," Mrs. Lacey recalled.

Her husband and the assistant manager could not persuade the pharmacist to change her mind.

When pressed, the pharmacist added that birth-control pills "cause cancer."

"I think my doctor should make these decisions," Mrs. Lacey said. "If they're going to decide not to do birth-control pills, where are they going to draw the line?"

CVS officials could not be reached for comment Tuesday, but a company spokesman told KXAS-TV (Channel 5) that a pharmacist who cannot fill a prescription because of a deeply held belief should ask another pharmacist to do so or call a competing store, if needed.

The incident may stoke a national debate that has put pharmacists on the front lines of the abortion issue.

In January, Eckerd drugstores fired a Denton pharmacist and two co-workers for refusing to sell the "morning-after" emergency contraceptive to a woman identified as a rape victim.

A Wisconsin state agency filed a complaint this month against a pharmacist who refused to fill a woman's birth-control prescription at a Kmart store in 2002, saying he also declined to transfer the prescription to another pharmacy.

Officials at Planned Parenthood Federation of America, which dispenses contraception and medical care, including abortions, decried what appeared to be "a dangerous trend" and called birth-control pills "basic health care."

But Elizabeth Graham, director of the Houston-based Texas Right to Life Committee, has said pharmacists have a moral right to refuse to fill some prescriptions.

According to the Texas State Board of Pharmacy, pharmacists may decline to fill prescriptions if they might harm patients, but not on moral grounds.

The Denton firings inspired pending legislation in several states that would shield pharmacists from losing their jobs if they refuse to prescribe the emergency contraception.

But federal officials and several states are also considering laws to make such pills available without a prescription.

Mrs. Lacey said she plans to file a complaint against the pharmacist.

A CVS employee delivered Mrs. Lacey's prescription to her home the next night.

But she is concerned that other women, who may have been prescribed birth-control pills to treat endometriosis or cysts, will be at the mercy of pharmacists' personal convictions.

"A lot of doctors don't believe in transplants," she added. "Where will this go?"

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

E-mail gkovach@dallasnews.com

Well this might not be bad idea actually . . . lol

Very funny! :p Just wait till the pharmacists start asking to see your marriage license before dispensing your Viagara prescription!

No way. Didn't you hear? Viagra will now be sold over the counter in Pez dispensers.;)

I'm fairly certain I used the possibility of this as an argument in the thread about the Eckard's incident. This kind of thing infuriates me!

Dee

I want a Betty Boo Viagra Pez.

What they should do is gather every single pharmacist in the state and shoot half of them and let rats eat their ears off. Just one ear. The other ear should be ripped off by the remaining pharmacists. Let's see if they make mistakes again.

-Rudey

Dammit, if you want to run a business according to your personal moral code, run an independently owned local business. That's your prerogative as Bobby Brown says. But a branch of a chain is NOT the place for it. I expect to get the same service at CVS in Texas that I do in Pennsylvania, Vermont or Oregon.

I hope they fire that freaking pharmacist! Bastard!

Hmmm I bet his ass won't have a problem filling a viagara RX :rolleyes:

I am surprised he is not asking for marriage licences before filling the scripts

I concur!

Ya know... it's not like you can't go accross the street and get the perscription filled at Walgreens. I mean, the damned things are everywhere!

:rolleyes: :mad:

What if this woman needed BC pills for a health problem such as controlling menstrual cramps/bleeding rather than just birth control? What gives the pharmacist the right to say "Well, if I give you the BC pills, you won't get pregnant, and that would be wrong, so you can just suffer" ?

Well, clearly its then the woman's fault for chosing the wrong parents.:rolleyes:

This is true; however, some insurance companies will not reimburse or offer a low copay if it's not one of their preferred pharmacies. I think that applies more to small independent chemists rather than biggies like CVS/Eckerd/Duane Reade/Walgreens.

I've often wondered if Walgreens wants to be on every street corner in America. :rolleyes:

I think CVS beat them to it :p

Talk about nonsense!!!

I want people to learn, once you become a member of a profession, whatever it may be, you then have to follow the rules of the profession. People should REALLY stop trying to govern other people's lives. If it ain't on the books, your opiNIon really doesn't matter.

That's only in New England. :D Walgreens runs a near monopoly in the South and Midwest. My tiny hometown has 3. :eek:

In Des Moines Iowa, on ONE STREET that is about 15 miles long there are 3 or 4 of them.

They are taking over....Walgreens ran Osco out of town...

Western PA has NO Walgreen's at all. I think we are getting them soon but it might be a year.

I hate people who think they're job is important. Especially pharmiscists, security guards, anyone in retail, air traffic controllers, congressman, etc.

Can you handle it?
 

http://www.tnr.com/doc.mhtml?i=life&s=cottle040904

by Michelle Cottle
"Why a pharmacist who refuses to dispense birth-control pills on religious grounds isn't at fault"

-Rudey

Stupidity at its worst!:mad:

This individuals Moral Judgement is outragious, he is dictated/dedicated to preform "HIS JOB" to a degree by filling our prescriptions written by Medical Doctors.

Of course, there was a real dickwad, who owned two pharmistist Locatations and diluted Cancer Treatment Drugs that were written by a Med. Dr.

He got 30 Years and is now saying it is to long!:mad:

If some Smuck said You cant have your presciption, first, I would tell Him to call the Dr. then rip his throat out!:mad: Why, you are given a perscription for a specific reason, period!

We don't have CVS in Oklahoma that I know of.

Plenty of Walgreens and Eckards though.

Duane Reades sprout like weeds in New York City. They are as ubiquitous as Starbucks.

Dispense the prescription as written and check your judgments at the door.

Anyone have anything to say about the article I posted? It might be easy to overlook it if you dont' agree....

-Rudey

Interesting article, Rudey. I still feel that if one has such strong feelings about providing certain medications, perhaps pharmacy is not a profession they shoud pursue.

I agree. It's not like birth control pills are a new drug that the pharmacist didn't know about before becoming a pharmacist. Also, there are a lot of reasons a woman could be taking birth control pills besides just contraception (which a few people mentioned before), and refusing to fill the prescription could be putting the woman's health at risk.

Also, the author of the article made a really good point when she said Even though, in the pharmacist's opinion, it is morally wrong to take birth control pills, it is just as--if not more so--morally wrong to tell somone that they are going to get cancer/go to hell/have deformed babies, etc. for taking the drug.

Also, regarding the link between cancer and the pill, it has been found that it does slightly increase the risk for some cancers and slightly decrease the risk for others, but each study has its drawbacks and is open to interpretation. However, if there was a 100% definitive link between the pill and cancer, you can be sure that FDA would pull it from the market. They would not let a medication that is that unsafe be on the market for as long as the pill has been.

The article didn't say you should go into a profession that allows your religion...in fact freedom of religion is guaranteed throughout no?

The point is to practice it without stepping on someone else's rights and that's what the article addresses a bit.

-Rudey

Yes, Rudey, I think that is right. I guess it is going to be necessary for pharmacies to always have someone "on call" in case this situation comes up again.

That pharmacist is just messed up.

Well, I have to agree that this is crazy... I kind of understood the abortion pill controversy, but this is crazy... This guy must be turning patients away left and right!

well... there is always the depo shot... *shrugs*

I have to pick up my depo shot from the pharmacy and take it to my physician to have her do the injection, so I'd still be in trouble (and I'm on the depo shot for obscure health reasons).

Dee

The Michigan House of Representatives has passed a bill that health care workers can refuse to perform services that they don't morally believe in. I don't think it will get past our very liberal governor though.. here's the link:

detroit news article

You bet I'm writing to my senator and governor!

Dee

Everybody I know who went on depo gained tons of weight and never wanted to have sex. That might be good birth control, but doesn't sound very appealing to me.

These pharmacists are stupid. I'm morally opposed to eating meat, so I know better than to go work at McDonald's where I'd be expected to serve it to people. It's not that difficult, is it?

Why are some government officials trying to exert more and more control over people's personal lives? If you're morally opposed to doing something required of your job, DON'T WORK THERE.

Interesting... I don't know if pharmacys around here would trust people with loaded shots. I get mine in at kaiser.
*shrugs*

But the depo shot was my option because of health reasons as well. Luckily I didn't gain an insane amount of weight.

She speaks the truth. I can think of 5 Walgreens within a 5 minute drive of my apartment, and 5 more within a 5 minute drive of my parents house.

And this pisses me off. I completely understand I can't get BC from Student Health Services. That's made blatantly clear to me. However, when I walk into a chain drugstore, they need to hand it over or advertise that they don't.

I think it's completely fine to have a moral objection to things - however, I think that you need to be prepared to face the consequences. For example, I know there is an OB-GYN in our medical complex who will not prescribe the Pill to girls my age. However, he makes that clear and suggests that you go elsewhere. That's fine with me, it's not an undue burden because I can go see one of the 7 other ones in the practice. Not giving this woman her drugs was an undue burden and if the pharmacy wishes to continue to employ this pharmacist, they need to have a procedure to not deny women their prescriptions.

Was this the first time she ever was asked to dispense BC? Was it the first time she objected? IF the employer is going to allow pharmacists to make this kind of objection THEN they should have to alert the employer in advance what they will and will not do and the employer should get to decide if they can employ or continue to employ that person. If they always have to schedule employees to accommodate you, that could be a serious problem. I think it is inappropriate to suddenly stop doing your job with no notice, whatever the reason.