Pharmacists say no to dispensing birth control
 

I did a search, and surprisingly nothing came up.

link to story

I don't think that being a pharmacist means you should be able to control what patients can and can't access (if it's legal) because you personally object to it. A patients' prescription is between them and their doctor.. you're just there to dispense it correctly.

I'm really pissed off about this.

I don't tell customers at my copy shop that I'm not going to copy their program for a Muslim ceremony because it's against my religion - hello lawsuit. (Plus, I just wouldn't do that..I don't care that other people have different beliefs than me and I'm certainly not going to attempt to control them).

NPR did a segment about this a while back.

Appartently, the concern is lack of access to birth control and other drugs because of a pharmacist beliefs. In rural areas, with only one pharmacist, there is a great concern over access to the medications.

My concern is that there are reasons some people use bc other than to prevent babies. Don't you have to take it if you are on accutane or other drugs that would cause great birth defects?

Oh hell naw!

Quote from article:
Sorry, what the customer is using it for is none of his damn business! I originally was put on it to regulate my cycle. Some get it because of their bad skin. He needs to butt out of women's bodies...and bedrooms! (see the quote in my sig below)

His attitude kinda reminds me of a bumper sticker I saw:
Forced Pregnancy Increases Church Membership!

Sorry, but I hope folks stop shopping at his store. Thank goodness he does not work for a large company like Walgreens (one of my fave stores)

We had a similar situation in the DFW area a while back. I think there is a thread about it on this forum somewhere.

I agree, it's a real pisser. I don't think it's appropriate for the pharmacist to do that.

I'm sure this hypocrite has no problem dispersing Viagra.:rolleyes:

Unless he's decides to change careers and become a liscensed medical doctor, he has no right whatsoever deciding who can or cannot get medicine if the prescription is already written. As a retailer he does not have the right to refuse service to customers.

It's a woman's choice and he's just going to have to get over it.

Can I get an Amen here?! :D

AMEN, Sister!!

That's like working in a Victoria's Secret but not selling a thong to a 15 year old because you think you know why she's buying it.

I wonder what these pharmacists would do if someone's mom came in to fill the scrip for them. My sister has been on birth control for a number of years to control cramping and other problems, but my mom always picked it up for her at the store. Would it have been a problem if my sister came in herself and filled the prescription?

I agree. When I was 13, I was almost put on the pill for "period issues". I'm also wondering this: How on EARTH would the pharmacist in the article know if the pill was used for bc or for "medical reasons"? I could, at 24, have "medical issues" that require the pill, but he'd probably see me as someone using it for reasons other than that.

Exactly. It's none of the pharmacist's business what medication I'm taking. Just fill the damn prescription. The only think I want to hear from my pharmacist is instructions on how I should take the medication, possible sideeffects, and if it could react negatively with any other medication I am taking. I don't need a surmon.

Women should just take their business elsewhere. If someone is in business and refuses to sell a certain product, that's really their right. I can respect if it's for religious reasons even if I disagree. It's kind of his right (although, that's clearly debatable).

Even in small towns, where you have only one pharmacist, you're talking maybe a 30 minute drive TOPS to the next small town to fill your scrip, or you can just mail order the stuff or get it off the net.

There are plenty of viable alternatives here.

The problem is this pharmacist is picking and choosing who he sells it to. He's not flat out refusing to sell it. Which means he's budding into the personal lives if his customers to find out why they are using the pill.
He should either refuse to sell and stock the pill or he should fill the prescription for everyone.

Definitely. Obviously you got the Rx because your own doctor thought it was okay. I don't need to hear a pharmacist's opinion on the facts and morales of life. I don't understand why a pharmacist would refuse a client. In the long run, technically we are paying his/her paycheck! He/she should be happy to serve us!

If this is an independant pharmacist, he's only paid by people that buy from him. So if people stop buying from him, he won't get paid. Make sense? Okay, good.

In America, it seems that we hate to be told "no". Especially when someone is imposing his will (or attempting to do so) on us. And even more especially if they're trying to impose their morals or religious beliefs onto us.

We'd be served much better to just go to a different pharmacist than bitch and moan about the one that won't sell us what we want.

I'm glad that other people are as pissed off at this as I am. Until a few months ago, the company I worked for was privately owned. Had I refused service to customer based on something like this... I would have had a law suit. Period.

Private organizations can do this kind of thing. You don't have to like it. Your choice is just to shop somewhere else.

It's not like anyone has a monopoly on te pharmaceutical retail business.

yes, but not everyone has the option of shopping elsewhere. not everyone has the time to drive that 30 or so minutes that you say they should take the time to drive to get a prescription. if a patient has a medicine prescribed by the doctor, the pharmacist shoudl fill it regardless of why they are taking the medicine.

just b/c you have the time or option of going to another pharmacy, that doesn't mean that everyone else does as well.

True that, but if you live in BFE and they are the only pharmacy, and you don't drive or have a car...you are screwed!

Mail order, internet, etc.

There ARE options.

And you can get a ride to someplace 30 minutes away. It's not like if you live in BFE, you don't know anyone going to the closest Wal-Mart.

Just hitch a ride.

Yeah, he's inconvenienced some people, but look, he's still in business, so apparenlty enough people in his town support him in this. For all we know, it might be a great marketing ploy to get customers back from Walgreens.

This is slightly off topic but...

I don't know about you but I don't really trust these online/mail order companies. You can never be sure that they are sending you right drugs, there are also delays in the postal system. Now with brith control it's really not much of an issue (other than possibly having to wait till your next cycle before taking your pill again), but for people who need medication right away, mail order/internet is not exactly a viable option.

Completely off topic, but I must say, I love my mail-order pharmacy for the pill. My doc writes it for 3 at a time, so I pay an $8 copay for all 3 and in about 6 days they show up in the mail, along with the next order form.

But yes, for Eli's colds and other medical problems, I have to go to a pharmacy in town. I just have to decide who is giving a free gift card for a new prescription! Dang, I wish Target would do that more often :D

As for the pharmacist - I too have been on the pill since a very young age, and have already been told that I will never be able to go off the pill as long as I want to know when to expect the "friend of the month" and as long as I want to keep some level of sanity about me (hubby says that this would be a good thing - apparantly living with me for 3 months w/out the pill while trying to get pregnant wasn't too great :D )

So there ya'll go ;)

Let the morally superior man in the pharmacy do as he pleases. Let him try to make a living when no one buys from him anymore.

Or maybe he'll get more business from the church crowd. Who knows? Who really cares though. The point is, if you don't like a shop, don't buy from 'em.

Can you tell us what your mail order pharmacy is and give website address if possible? Thanks in advance. :)

Here are some similar threads about pharmacists refusing to fill prescriptions for birth control or the morning after pill:

http://forums.greekchat.com/gcforums...threadid=48927

http://forums.greekchat.com/gcforums...threadid=46203

http://forums.greekchat.com/gcforums...threadid=46652

ktsnake,

I don't disagree that, being a private pharmacy, he has the right to refuse service to anyone.

The big issue I have with it is that it deals with a person's health. Something he's not qualified to determine - he's the expert on the medicine itself. The article doesn't specify how he determines what people are using it for, so maybe that needs clarified, too, since he claims to dispense it to people that use if for 'other' medical reasons.

Let's be clear. I don't think what he's doing is right. I'm just supporting his right -- as an American to be an asshole and an idiot if he wants to be.

It's his choice to sell it or not to sell it, and the public's choice to frequent his shope or not to frequent his shop. To me, it's as cut and dry as that.