I'm not talking about this guy in particular, I'm talking about a broader question of whether morality should have any bearing on how someone conducts themselves professionally.
Physicians . . . well some physicians lie (or fudge) b/c if they don't some patients will not get the services they need. Lying is certainly always unethical but in these cases the rules do not serve the patient . . . they serve some system. Denial of necessary (but not emergent) care is immoral but our healthcare system has a variety of rules that make such denial of care . . . ethical.
Plan B . . . I forget the name of the other one in the US
How does Plan B work?
Plan B is believed to act as an emergency contraceptive principally by delaying ovulation or preventing fertilization. In addition, it may inhibit implantation by altering the endometrium. Plan B is not effective if a woman is pregnant. Plan B is contraception and cannot terminate an established pregnancy.
Medicine . . . and in particular . . . pharmacology is an evolving (yet inexact) science. Even if you believe life begins at fertilization, Plan B is still most likely acting as conception control NOT birth control (abortifacent). Assuming all of the above actions occur with Plan B, then by his actions . . . the pharmacist actually INCREASED the odds that Plan B would induce an abortion instead of being conception control.
EDIT for clarity: Plan B activity:
1) Delays ovulation: No egg . . . no fertilization . . . no pregnancy.
1') Prevents fertilization: Mucking up the physiological changes necessary to make the egg receptive to sperm penetration . . . no fertilization . . . no pregnancy.
2) Inhibits implantation: Now it gets interesting. Plan B impairs implantation. No implantation leads to loss of zygote. It's an open debate about whether that's an abortion. My understanding is that most OB/Gyns do NOT consider failed implantation to be an abortion/miscarriage. But for anyone guided by their religious principle of conception . . . clearly this would probably qualify as abortion.
3) Plan B is NOT an abortifacent per se: If the egg is fertilized and implants in the endometrium. You be pregnant. You will get all the side effects of taking Plan B but it will not change the natural history of pregnancy. Unlike RU-486 (mifepristone) which is indeed a straight up abortifacent.
The dramatic (time-dependent) fall off in efficacy for Plan B favors 1 and 1' as the primary mechanisms of action. #2 cannot be ruled out but that just makes a case for making Plan B OTC. If you are not opposed to other forms of contraception then VERY early use of Plan B is nothing controversial.
The take home message is that this pharmacist should be quided by
knowledge, his ethical responsibility to serve patients in need, and his morality. IMHO, his lack of knowledge is the problem not his morality. Granted, he helps highlight the issue of why pharmacists should have minimal control over prescription drug utilization.
Studies of Plan B