Revisiting the pharmacist/birth control script refusal debate (sort of)

[chadfromdallas]

PS:We speak french here !

Malheureusement, je parle seulement espagnol

 

[ladyjayhawk]

But as I've said twice now and have gotten no responses about - BCP have been legal for almost 50yrs now. Unless you're living in a rock in the middle of the prairie somewhere you should have some sort of inkling that bcp is a popular prescription. Why take a job at a pharmacy where you'd daily be forced to deal with something you're morally opposed to?

Because many employers do accomodate for pharmacists' moral/religious beliefs. This happens far more than the general public is aware of. Did you know there are even pharmacy chains that will not carry the morning after pill? So pharmacists can easily find jobs that will not cause them to do something they are morally against.

The cases in the news are the extreme examples (refusing to give the script back) and probably do not happen all that often. I do not agree with what the pharmacists did in these situations.

 

[6_Time_Momma]

I don't think the pharmacist should have the right to refuse. He is there to fill a prescription, not to make moral judgements. He is not a Dr. What next? People being able to refuse an AIDS patient their meds based on the fact of how they MIGHT have gotten it?

Actually, that was brought up in the OP.

The jist of this thread has, for the most part, turned to birth control pills. But, other refused or potentially refused meds were brought up as well. (back to the debate)

 

[toto2]

Malheureusement, je parle seulement espagnol

Good start !

 

[Bill_Sykes]

In Wisconsin at least, it is wrong for a pharmaist to refuse to return the prescription on religious grounds. In this case, the pharmacist refused to fill a birth control prescription and refused to return the script to the patient. Administrationive law jusge rules against pharmacist

On Monday, February 28th, an independent administrative law judge released a decision stating pharmacist Neil Noesen violated the Wisconsin pharmacists' code of ethics when he refused to fill and transfer a patient's birth control prescription. Noesen's case now goes to the State of Wisconsin's Pharmacy Examining Board, which can accept the judge's decision and recommendations - or reject them and issue its own findings

Noesen testified that he believes birth control is "intrinsically evil." During the incident in question, he refused to provide any information to the patient when she asked how to gain access to her medication. Noesen also refused to transfer her prescription to another pharmacist, even after the patient called the police for help. As a result of Noesen's conduct, the patient missed a dosage of her birth control and risked unintended pregnancy.

The administrative law judge found that Noesen's conduct could have harmed the patient and violated the code of ethics. The judge recommended that his license be limited and that he would have to come up with a plan to ensure patient access to all prescriptions

It was wrong for this pharmacist to refuse to return the script and the ALJ issued the right ruling. I have not seen if the ruling has been appealed and the results of such appeal but I hope that the maximum penalities are levied against this man.

 

[AllyandJack]

I wonder if he would have refused other medications that effect the reproductive system....Provera and other drugs to bring on menstruation (can I say that here? )....what about fertility drugs?

Would he have filled those or are those against his beliefs, as well?

 

[clutter]

The drug only POSSIBLY has those properties if the woman is sexually active. Are only sexually active womwn allowed to have regulated periods?

And the BCP is also used for more than just to "regulate" periods. For some women, it's a life saver from pain, for some from pms.

 

[Galahad]

it is wrong for a pharmaist to refuse to return the prescription

Agreed. The prescription is essentially the property of the patient, having been transfered to him/her from the doctor. Can a pharmacist refuse to return a script the think is forged or otherwise fraudulent?

 

[jacksonsmom]

I haven't been able to read through every page (yet), but I am on BCPs. Do I want to be? NO! I do NOT have a choice right now. I am not on it to avoid a pregnancy, but when I am not on BCPs I will have a period for WEEKS. I have to lay in bed because my cramps are so bad. BCPs are the only thing, beside surgery, that helps my periods where I can actually function at a normal level. Yeah, Life stinks sometimes, not every woman has a perfect cycle, can do natural family planning & live without BCPs. Believe it or not there ARE MEDICIAL reason a woman is on BCPs!!!!

Life is not perfect, people needs certain drugs for various reasons. It is between ME AND MY DOCTOR what the reasons are!!!!
I am so thankful my pharamicst understands that.
I would raise you know what if someone thought they knew what was good for me by not filling my BCPs!!!! They really have NO right to deny me my pills, would they deny high blood pressure pills to someone who has high blood pressure?

The fact is these pharamicsts have no idea why that person needs a certain drug. Their job is to just fill it & let it be between the doctor & the patient.

 

[Galahad]

it's a life saver from pain, for some from pms.

Which makes it even more short sighted....since they would also seem to be a life saver for many a husband..............

 

[Maleficent13]

Which makes it even more short sighted....since they would also seem to be a life saver for many a husband..............

 

[ladyjayhawk]

Can a pharmacist refuse to return a script the think is forged or otherwise fraudulent?

Yes, I have kept many prescriptions that I suspected were forgeries. I try to contact the doctor and if he/she says its fake or has been altered, then I either destroy the script or call the police depending on the doctor's wishes (he/she is the one to press charges). If I discover that the doctor doesn't exist, then I call the police. The police then take the prescription as evidence.

No one has ever tried to sue me over this.

 

[CJMickeyMouse]

The fact is these pharamicsts have no idea why that person needs a certain drug. Their job is to just fill it & let it be between the doctor & the patient.

YIKES!!!! Their job is not that simple!!!

If patients come into a pharmacy with that kind of attitude, it will likely interfere with the pharmacist actually doing their job...... Patient counseling, drug interactions, etc. Now I realize this does not usually apply to something like BC pills, but GEEZ, you sure are diminishing the role of pharmacists in health care!!!

I don't know about anyone else, but I am not ready to put my complete and total trust in a Dr. and not welcome an additional opinion from another qualified health care professional.

The drug companies push their products on Dr.'s. What if a pharmacist felt there was reason to believe that a certain "new and improved" BC pill, or any other for that matter, was unsafe? Do you want him or her to share that info with your, or just "let it be between the Dr. and the patient???

 

[Planogirl]

I've certainly spoken to my pharmacist about possible drug interactions and I'm very grateful for his expertise. I would not welcome any moral thoughts on his part though.

 

[ncgolfer]

They really have NO right to deny me my pills, would they deny high blood pressure pills to someone who has high blood pressure?

You don't really have the right to get you pills or any other prescription filled. Just because someone wrote you a script doesn't entitle you the RIGHT to get them filled. I'm not just speaking of bcp, I'm talking any medication out there.

 

[njchris]

I haven't read all the posts, so please excuse me if I'm not making sense.

A pharmacist with his own practice/store could set what medications they want to dispense and they could tell the person "we do not fill that here". THat's all.

A pharmacist working for a chain or for someone else should find out if they fill medications that he or she feels is wrong. If that's the case, dont get a job there. Simple. If they do get a job there and try to deny anyone, then they should be fired. Period.

It is pretty simple to me.

One person doesnt believe in contraception.. good. But that doesn't give that person a right to get a job at Wal-Mart and not fill scripts for it. Open your own store and don't accept Rx's for that. If it was Wal-Mart's policy, that would be different (as well as may result in people boycotting them or protesting, but it still would not be an employee making their own decisions against company policy).

 

[Crankyshank]

I pay for a service (insurance) and I have the right to utilize it. Part of that service is prescriptions so I absolutely have the right to fill them

 

[chobie]

You don't really have the right to get you pills or any other prescription filled. Just because someone wrote you a script doesn't entitle you the RIGHT to get them filled. I'm not just speaking of bcp, I'm talking any medication out there.

Did you miss this?

The present case, then, concerns a relationship lying within the zone of privacy created by several fundamental constitutional guarantees. And it concerns a law which, in forbidding the use of contraceptives rather than regulating their manufacture or sale, seeks to achieve its goals by means having a maximum destructive impact upon that relationship. Such a law cannot stand in light of the familiar principle, so often applied by this Court, that a "governmental purpose to control or prevent activities constitutionally subject to state regulation may not be achieved by means which sweep unnecessarily broadly and thereby invade the area of protected freedoms." NAACP v. Alabama, 377 U.S. 288, 307 . Would we allow the police to search the sacred precincts of marital bedrooms for telltale signs of the use of contraceptives? The [381 U.S. 479, 486] very idea is repulsive to the notions of privacy surrounding the marriage relationship.

 

[CJMickeyMouse]

I pay for a service (insurance) and I have the right to utilize it. Part of that service is prescriptions so I absolutely have the right to fill them

Just because you paid for insurance does not mean any given pharmacy has to accept it. Also if a given pharmacy does not carry a certain med, you are not going to walk out the door with it.

You have the right to attempt to have your prescriptions filled anywhere you choose, but every place you go may not provide the service you are looking for.

 

[Crankyshank]

The pharmacist held on to her prescription, thus infringing upon her right to get that prescription filled.