Pharmacist refuses to refill birth control

[xochi]

I wonder how many perscriptions for birthcontrol a pharmacy recieves every day?




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


Link

 

[conjur]

Guess he'd heard about this guy:

http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview.cfm?catid=52&threadid=1271803&FTVAR_MSGDBTABLE=

 

[tnitsuj]

Fire him and take away his license.

 

[LordMagnusKain]

he's got every right to refuse whatever service on any level he wants; as long far as he didn't steal her prescription;

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

to doctors that do believe in performing transplant surgery;

 

[InfectedMushroom]

3rd similar situation in just a couple of months.

 

[ianbergman]

Originally posted by: LordMagnusKain
he's got every right to refuse whatever service on any level he wants; as long far as he didn't steal her prescription;

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

to doctors that do believe in performing transplant surgery;

The pharmacist does not have the right. Corporate policy sets what the pharmacist can and cannot do; in this case, the pharmacist had the right to refuse service but had to refer the patient to a competing store or another pharmacist. Because she did not, I agree - fire her.

 

[PingSpike]

Why aren't these people being fired? WTF, they aren't doing their jobs...so they should be fired.

 

[BugsBunny1078]

I saw a nice show on catholic tv station that proved very conclusively that birth control has led to the demoralizing of society and break down of family life in our country.

 

[ElFenix]

Originally posted by: PingSpike
Why aren't these people being fired? WTF, they aren't doing their jobs...so they should be fired.

the one guy did... there may be a shortage of pharmacists though... if you don't have someone with a license that can take over you're out of a big revenue source.

 

[SuperTool]

Originally posted by: LordMagnusKain
he's got every right to refuse whatever service on any level he wants; as long far as he didn't steal her prescription;

He has a right to refuse service, but CVS has a right to fire him for refusing service that they as a corporation choose to provide. It's not his pharmacy, he is employee who is paid to do what CVS wants him to do for their customers, not to peddle his beliefs.

 

[LordMagnusKain]

Originally posted by: ianbergman

Originally posted by: LordMagnusKain
he's got every right to refuse whatever service on any level he wants; as long far as he didn't steal her prescription;

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

to doctors that do believe in performing transplant surgery;

The pharmacist <EM>does not</EM> have the right. Corporate policy sets what the pharmacist can and cannot do; in this case, the pharmacist had the right to refuse service but had to refer the patient to a competing store or another pharmacist. Because she did not, I agree - fire her.

Why aren't these people being fired? WTF, they aren't doing their jobs...so they should be fired.

he can't hide behind 'freedom of religion' to protect his job.

But he's got every right to do what he wants at work, if it gets him figured then them is the breaks.

 

[InfectedMushroom]

Originally posted by: BugsBunny1078
I saw a nice show on catholic tv station that proved very conclusively that birth control has led to the demoralizing of society and break down of family life in our country.

really?
this was a scientific study based on facts, of course?

 

[gistech1978]

why not fill prescriptions for anti-depressants too?

"I will not give you your Zoloft because I dont believe in it. You should find solace in the Lord God Almighty and pray 3 times a day and your depression would be cured. I pray 3 times daily and have never been depressed."

"i will not sell you tampons, because it is my belief according to the Old Testament that a woman must be sent from the camp during her menstral cycle."

If she has such a moral objection to it, maybe she should work for a different "christian" pharmacy where she can preach her rhetoric to the choir left and right.

should be fired.
end of discussion.

 

[PingSpike]

Originally posted by: BugsBunny1078
I saw a nice show on catholic tv station that proved very conclusively that birth control has led to the demoralizing of society and break down of family life in our country.

Was this before or after the rash of Child Molestation scandals?

 

[LordMagnusKain]

Originally posted by: InfectedMushroom

Originally posted by: BugsBunny1078
I saw a nice show on catholic tv station that proved very conclusively that birth control has led to the demoralizing of society and break down of family life in our country.

really?
this was a scientific study based on facts, of course?

yes, yes it was.

Originally posted by: gistech1978
why not fill prescriptions for anti-depressants too?

"I will not give you your Zoloft because I dont believe in it. You should find solace in the Lord God Almighty and pray 3 times a day and your depression would be cured. I pray 3 times daily and have never been depressed."

"i will not sell you tampons, because it is my belief according to the Old Testament that a woman must be sent from the camp during her menstral cycle."

And the problem with that would be? Or does the employer not have the right to let the employee exercise freedom of religion and freedom of expression?

 

[gistech1978]

Originally posted by: LordMagnusKain

Originally posted by: InfectedMushroom

Originally posted by: BugsBunny1078
I saw a nice show on catholic tv station that proved very conclusively that birth control has led to the demoralizing of society and break down of family life in our country.

really?
this was a scientific study based on facts, of course?

yes, yes it was.

Originally posted by: gistech1978
why not fill prescriptions for anti-depressants too?

"I will not give you your Zoloft because I dont believe in it. You should find solace in the Lord God Almighty and pray 3 times a day and your depression would be cured. I pray 3 times daily and have never been depressed."

"i will not sell you tampons, because it is my belief according to the Old Testament that a woman must be sent from the camp during her menstral cycle."

And the problem with that would be? Or does the employer not have the right to let the employee exercise freedom of religion and freedom of expression?

have you even taken a job yet?
you have very little freedoms while at work. They are not paying you to express yourself and they sure as hell arent paying a pharmacist to impose her narrow minded beliefs on paying customers.
They are paying her to dispense medications after a Physician prescribes them, not give someone a sermon and spout lies. that pharmacist knows damn well that BC doesnt cause cancer. If she believes that, then she should be fired for incompetence.

 

[LordMagnusKain]

you have very little freedoms while at work.

If that's what the employer wants, if not then the employer is free to allow employies to have personal freedoms.

If she believes that, then she should be fired for incompetence.

it's none of our business what kind of person another company employees.

 

[gistech1978]

Originally posted by: LordMagnusKain

you have very little freedoms while at work.

If that's what the employer wants, if not then the employer is free to allow employies to have personal freedoms.

If she believes that, then she should be fired for incompetence.

it's none of our business what kind of person another company employees.

mmkay.
so by that logic, well my daycare has hired a known child molester. well its none of my business!
oh, the pilot of our jet is a known drunk and heroin addict? none of my business!

the fact of the matter is this. if the Pharmacist wanted to preach, there is always that option. She can go the Methodist Church and get right on it.

 

[bozack]

wow what stereotyping in this thread, automatically everyone assumes the phamacist is a *HE* when the article clearly said:

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

Also found this rather interesting:

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.

The easiest solution would be to make these over the counter, don't know how feasable that is given the requirements or what not. I don't think it is *right* to force someone to do something that they don't agree with just as I don't think it is right to deny someone something they want that is available....tough call IMHO.

 

[bozack]

really?
this was a scientific study based on facts, of course?

even if it wasn't doesn't it make sense in a way? long gone are the days when people had to have personal responsability/accountability....now you can screw whatever you want and be generally "covered" from a serious reprocussion such as a child....not saying it is a bad thing per say, but I can understand how it makes people less responsible and more careless.

 

[Perknose]

it's none of our business what kind of person another company employees.

Until they selectively deny us the very service they were hired to perform.

 

[Tom]

I wouldn't give Ditka his cialas, if I was a pharmacist.

 

[OutHouse]

Originally posted by: SuperTool

Originally posted by: LordMagnusKain
he's got every right to refuse whatever service on any level he wants; as long far as he didn't steal her prescription;

He has a right to refuse service, but CVS has a right to fire him for refusing service that they as a corporation choose to provide. It's not his pharmacy, he is employee who is paid to do what CVS wants him to do for their customers, not to peddle his beliefs.

exactly! Its the same thing as a checker refusing to accept a check because of some religious belief.

If he wants to preach to customers, then she should open her own pharmacy and do it. Mean while she is working for a company and if she doesnt like their policies then she can quit and find a place that fits her own beliefs.

 

[kage69]

I saw a nice show on catholic tv station that proved very conclusively that birth control has led to the demoralizing of society and break down of family life in our country.

Yeah, real nice.

Church nuts: please keep your attention tuned towards MagicHappyFairyLand and not other people's sex lives.


That pharmacist needs to be canned touts suite. If she had half a brain, she'd have realized that her religious subscription would interfere with her occupation and quit. Yet another example of the thumpers taking it upon themselves to morally adjust their neighbors to suit what they feel right. Pathetic.

 

[SuperTool]

Originally posted by: bozack

really?
this was a scientific study based on facts, of course?

even if it wasn't doesn't it make sense in a way? long gone are the days when people had to have personal responsability/accountability....now you can screw whatever you want and be generally "covered" from a serious reprocussion such as a child....not saying it is a bad thing per say, but I can understand how it makes people less responsible and more careless.

So let's ban seatbelts and airbags. We wouldn't want them to be covered from general reprocussions of driving such as getting killed. People are going to drive much more careful if they know that even a moderate collision will kill them.