Not exactly a “Profile in Courage”, but at least Walgreen’s is one drugstore that’s trying to come correct.
From ABC News:
Walgreen Co. said it has put four Illinois pharmacists in the St. Louis area on unpaid leave for refusing to fill prescriptions for emergency contraception in violation of a state rule.
The four cited religious or moral objections to filling prescriptions for the morning-after pill and “have said they would like to maintain their right to refuse to dispense, and in Illinois that is not an option,” Walgreen spokeswoman Tiffani Bruce said.
A rule imposed by Gov. Rod Blagojevich in April requires Illinois pharmacies that sell contraceptives approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to fill prescriptions for emergency birth control. Pharmacies that do not fill prescriptions for any type of contraception are not required to follow the rule.
Personally, I wish it was Walgreen’s policy, rather than state law, that prompted the disciplinary action:
Walgreen, based in Deerfield, Ill., put the four on leave Monday, Bruce said. She would not identify them. They will remain on unpaid leave “until they either decide to abide by Illinois law or relocate to another state” without such a rule or law. For example, she said, the company would be willing to help them get licensed in Missouri and they could work for Walgreen there.
Walgreen policy says pharmacists can refuse to fill prescriptions to which they are morally opposed except where state law prohibits but they must take steps to have the prescription filled by another pharmacist or store, Bruce said.
Okay, so a Walgreen’s customer in, say, Missouri can go to another store…and have another pharmacist refuse to fill it…ad infinitum.
There’s no indication that these pharmacists have any objection to filling regular birth control prescriptions…so this so-called “moral objection” is obviously based on the canard spread by the “pro-life” gang that Plan B and equivalent medications act as abortifacients, merely because they can prevent the implantation of the fertilized egg…and everyone knows that there’s no difference between a fertilized egg and a living breathing baby, after all…
It’s important that we put pressure on our state legislatures to pass legislation similar to that in Illinois…and hope that the courts don’t side with the pharmacists and make the right to birth control one with no teeth…
Well that’s good news! At least Walgreens is better than Target.
just in case some folks haven’t found this site yet:
Fill my pill now
Semi-partial good news. I’m not sure it says much about corporate Walgreen’s if they’re offering to help their pharmicists become licensed in Missouri and continue to work for them there… They’re basically just following the law at the moment, and if they can get around it in another state, it sounds like they’ll support their pharmicists’ ‘rationale’ for refusal rather than support their customers’ right to access. Sigh.
BTW, Where’s your link go to? I’m showing that it goes back to your comment here, and would be interested in checking Our Word out. Thanks!
try Our Word
Thank you!!
Hmmm… do you notice somethings missing on this thread?
URGE CONGRESS TO SUPPORT PLAN B:
http://www.prochoiceamerica.org/women_are_waiting/index.html
AND WHILE YOU’RE AT IT, TELL YOUR SENATORS, STOP ALITO:
http://petition.savethecourt.org/fwd/campaigns/savethecourt/register/fc3c4e7fd9e7c7702f2d1c855b206fc
5
SIGN PLANNED PARENTHOOD’S ANTI-ALITO PETITION, TOO:
http://www.ppaction.org/campaign/sc_round3_oppose2?rk=j1Al2BE1%5fzGQE
NARAL IS SHOOTING FOR 500,000 SIGNATURES, PLEASE ADD YOURS:
http://prochoiceaction.org/campaign/sen_scotus_alito_103105/forward
Judy, thanks for the information, really, but PLEASE make shorter links. You’re breaking the margins of every thread you post these in.
You can make smaller links by utilizing the features at tinyurl.com.
You can also use html like this:
[a href=”http://website address you want to link to.com”]hotlink text[/a]
and just replace all the brackets [ and ] with greater and lesser than signs <and>, and then replace “website address you want to link to.com” with the right website address and “hotlink text” with a short description, and it will come out looking like the tinyurl link I made above. If you want to use html here at Booman make sure that right below the Post Comment box you choose “HTML formatted” instead of “Auto format” from the dropdown menu.
It makes perfect sense from a corporate standpoint. The message you want to send to consumers is, “We may NOT fill all your prescriptions in a timely manner.” Really. It’s a totally winning strategy. Slam dunk.
Personally, I wish it was Walgreen’s policy, rather than state law, that prompted the disciplinary action
Agreed. I guess it takes the threat of fines and possible loss of the pharmacy’s license get their attention. As an Illinoisan, I’m glad it’s my state that’s stepped up to the plate, although in contradiction, Illinois’ Health Care Right of Conscience Act states that health care professionals are not obliged to act contrary to their conscience, which is probably the basis for the suits mentioned in your linked article:
At least six other pharmacists have sued over the rule, claiming it forces them to violate their religious beliefs
What I’ve always wondered, though… If a Christian Scientist becomes a pharmacist, can he refuse to fill any prescriptions?
Perfect! The logical terminus of this particular slippery slope.
Where is it written that pharmacists must “fill” a prescription? NO Where .. unless it has been decided by the state… Stepping up to the plate is more like stepping “out of bounds”…
to pretend to know the laws that pertain to this and I won’t argue over what they are. But I will say something about what they should be.
A pharmacy should agree as a condition of licensing that it will fill all presciptions without exception. There should be no judgment exercised at all except for one very important one.
They should make sure not to fulfill multiple prescriptions that might interact badly. Generally speaking, if they think a doctor has made an error or that the presciption will physically harm the patient, they should call the doctor.
After that, they should dispense pills and not intervene.
That is my belief. If a pharmacist has a problem, they need to have their shift staffed with someone who does not.
Anything less poses a health risk to the community and should not be licensed.
that is a valid argument. I feel it’s erroneous when you say not to use judgment and just fill an RX, but you have your thoughts/choices and I have mine. They differ…
to use judgment. Is this Rx going to interact with other medications the patient is taking? Is the doctor aware of other Rx’s that have been filled for this patient from another doctor? etc.
Lots of judgment.
But not about whether a drug is moral or not. That is the job of the FDA, and the doctor. No the pharmacy. Now, can you tell me why you should have that discretion? And why we should license your pharmacy?
But for the Illinois law, the result would be similar to that of a Walgreen’s in Missouri. Kudos to Illinois, a Bronx cheer to Walgreen’s.
Let’s get a few facts on the table here…
Let’s just say I went to work tomorrow and refused to do my job on “moral” grounds. Anyone want to give me odds on how long I’d still have a job?
Brilliant analogy 🙁 — I assue you are in a profession where you don’t have to make any decisions… therefore, an expert you are…
you’re new here. you should be just a little more polite.
in the Seattle area one Sat. evening looking for Plan B for a friend. “I’m sorry, no one here is certified to dispense it. You might try calling…”
Blah blah. I spent 4 HOURS trying to find it. And if the doc who called me back when I finally called the on-call # for my own doctor’s office hadn’t been willing to prescribe it for someone other than myself, over the phone — I’d still be calling. Or knitting baby blankets.
Freekin’ pain in the rear. I must’ve made 50 calls in 3.5 hours before I got it. Two emergency rooms said they’d prescribe if we came in, but that woulda been $300-$700. Not too appealing.
I have to wonder if those pharmacists would fill my prescription for ribavirin which can cause birth defects or miscarriages in both women patients or women partners of male patients. Wouldn’t they find it the least bit inconsistent to then refuse my girlfriend’s (or wife’s to keep it christian) plan b prescription? Just a little bit?
There must be other medicines with similar side effects and accidents do happen. Even in good, christian marriages.
I wonder, too. Seems as if that could be the basis for a powerful pr program–listing all the cancer drugs, etc., that “shouldn’t” be sold, by their logic, because they are potential abortifants.
Good diary, Cali. Thanks for telling us.
OK — this is slippery slope.. Neoplastic agents along with many other medicines have “side effect” — if they are known to be abortificants they are given a Black Box warning and deemed CATEGORY X by the FDA… As a pharmacist, I dispense these medicines daily. The sole purpose of these medicines are NOT to prevent conception. Plan B is used specifically for that… it has no other use. If you believe life begins at implantation of the woman’s egg (as I do), then the “shedding” of the fertilized egg is abortion. That’s my belief…. I choose not to dispense the medicine…
Good thing you don’t live in Canada then since Plan B is legal and advertised on our subways by the City of Toronto as a safe and effective form of contraceptive for those whose regular forms of birth control have failed…
Man I love that whole separation of church and state thing.
Btw, I think men who can’t get it up shouldn’t since it’s against nature… I assume you don’t dispense viagara either?
NO — never said that — never insinuated that — if you have taken physiology, you would know –90% of the time, ED is a specific physical condition or side effect of a medicine…..
PS == you are right, it’s a good thing I don’t live in Canada…. I am sure most other Americans feel that way also..
excellent… keeps all the jerks like you from ruining the country for the rest of us… but then again, you seem to like your current theocracy so go for it… I’m pretty sure most American’s won’t agree with that either… since the majority agree with Roe v. Wade… and the Founder’s are doing cartwheels in their graves with your lack of respect for their intent… oops… sorry, guess original intent only counts if you’re Scalia and think they agree with your interpretation…
glad you stopped by to share your “vision”.
please show me where scientific data that says Americans agree with Roe V Wade exactly as written… please…
…PS – glad to see you could last 1 response before resulting in name calling… Classy
you are so right… calling you a jerk for littering this thread with right wing propaganda was so out of line.
Put down the remote hon, Faux news isn’t meant to be watched 24/7.
Wow — I post my opinion on something.. an educated opinion at that… I get called a jerk, then told it’s right wing propaganda … I’ll stand by my remarks, “hon” , CLASSY…
Really? You seriously think that saying medical professionals who choose a career to dispense prescriptions from licensed doctors refusing to do so because they have a religious belief that conception begins when sperm may or may not attach to an egg is not right wing theocratic propaganda, in contrast to the Constitution of the United States which calls for a secular nation is out of line then I have no further use for conversation with you…
and, hon, your response to my “good thing you aren’t in Canada” with a “most American’s wouldn’t want to be” (ahem, nothing to do with what my point was, just a jingoistic response) wasn’t the start of this little nasty exchange then you need to take a course in civil discourse and stop watching O’Reilly.
wow…propaganda needs to look in the mirror “hon” … I stated and will re-state — Americans love their country and want to live here above anywhere else. You could have used Germany or England or any other country and would have gotten the same response. As far as profession goes, you may want to educate yourself a little more on what exactly pharmacists role in health care is…
then, you can change the subject again and go off on another slippery slope tangent with your propaganda statements… when you run out of things to say, you can throw in your “faux” or “O’reilly” tidbit to be cute..
PS — still waiting on the scientific data of where Americans agree with Roe V Wade as written and interpreted … PS — it’s “sir” not “hon” — I could go off on your “left wing” propaganda about generalizations from here, but will show restraint… sticking by my original statement — CLASSY….
calling a woman “hon” is sexist. for that you get a zero.
okay. Spider is getting a little pissed off. I’ll try to engage you on this more respectfully. These are hot button issues here. But we do aim to be respectful and listen, as long as we don’t hear Sean Hannity talking points.
So, are you making the point that most supporters of choice don’t agree with the reasoning of Roe?
sorry Boo… these are hot button issues and I will step away now since I’m incapable of making my point this eve without gettin’ hot under the collar… a girlfriend of mine just needed to go to the pharmacist tonight (luckily we have 24 hour ones up here), so it was a raw issue.
if this person has a real argument they will make it. So far, he was expressing a view most of us are likely to disagree with, but they haven’t been spewing talking points. So, I thought we should give them a chance to make their point and see if we learn from it.
Learn what?
because they are potential abortifants (sic).
Factually incorrect and theocrat talking point. What is it we’re supposed to be ‘learning’ again?
Not to speak for Boo, but I took his “learning” comment as learning about what makes this guy (and people like him) feel/ think the way they do.
I certainly don’t think he was condoning his position… just trying to stop me from going even further than I already was.
learning about what makes this guy (and people like him) feel/ think the way they do.
I suppose I have no tolerance for “learning” why the willfully uneducated “feel” the way they do. I know for a fact that pharmacy school requirements include organic chemistry, basic biochem and biology, so there’s really no excuse.
I agree wholeheartedly, just giving my take on Boo’s position.
So why are these comments hidden….?
because they are all attached to the post that got zero’s
Others have rated this comment as follows:
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in my case, it was for the assertion of “educated”.
im not so sure i’d bend over backwards and make nice with mr loco because his facts are wrong.
read my post below. and then go over and read mediagirl’s post on Plan B here:
And so why is contraception such a problem?
plan B is contraception.
end of story.
hotbutton, indeed!
sorry this is the hyperlink:
FDA fudging on Plan B, the drug that prevents conception
the “hon” shit doesnt cut it here, jerk.
have another zero for your sexist tripe.
im not really clear on exactly what your trying to say here mr lococardz.
are you stating that plan B is an abortifacient? (please correct your spelling)
are you saying Plan B prevents implantation?
Here is a quote from the Oxford Journal, Oxford University Press
Here’s another cite from The New England Journal of Medicine, (pay registration required):
Blocked or delayed ovulation is how Plan B works, Mr. pharmacist Loco. If Ms Egg just doesn’t show up for her date with Mr Sperm Ms. Egg remains a virgin and fertilization does not occur. If there is no fertilized egg how can it be aborted? Oh, but lets not let any facts get in our way.
If you are saying Plan B is an abortifacient, which I’m kind of unsure of, to tell you the truth, then you Sir are seriously misinformed
If that’s the case? Well then, don’t you need to run back over and join the rest of your kind over at pharmacists for life?
Never mind that there has not been one single instance that Plan B was shown to prevent a fertilized egg’s implantation.
You’re entire cause has made this shit up.
Why don’t you admit that you’re really against Plan B because you think women should be “punished with pregnancy” for having sex?
Not all religions agree. While some might share your view, others will say life begins several weeks after fertilization, still others, most notably the popular Catholic faith, holds that “every sperm is sacred” and any method of contraception is prohibited, as is any act of sexual congress, even between a married couple, where both participants are not open to the birth of a child as a result.
The transition to theocracy will not be a smooth one for the US, it is not at all unusual to find individuals who believe very strongly that women should be forced to give birth and/or that her body is the property of the state, the church, or the male population in general, but it is quite surprising how few of these individuals wax enthusiastic over the prospect of Catholic doctrine regarding acts of intimacy being enforced in their homes.
While you are certainly entitled to your beliefs, as is the Orthodox Jew who does not believe in eating pork, or the Hindu who does not believe in eating beef, it is difficult not to notice that while the number of Jews and Hindus seeking careers as servers of pork or processors of beef has remained quite steady at zero, the number of pharmacists who claim a religious or moral objection to dispensing medication as prescribed by physicians seems to be undergoing something of a growth spurt recently.
Perhaps this is something professional associations can help with. If an individual discovers, after having trained as a pharmacist, that the profession conflicts with his or her religious views and moral convictions, the local pharmacy board should, in my opinion, spare no effort in helping that person choose a new career path more suited to his or her beliefs.
Well, I gues they’re still free to refuse to sell:
tobacco products
pork products
hallowe’en candy
products with religious images or icons
or anything else that violates an individual employeess the right to enforce a private shariah
If pharmicists don’t want to dispense medicine let them go pump gas or flip burgers. Self rightous assholes.
Wow — Brilliant…. I guess you have info on federal law that requires a pharmacist to dispense a written RX — guess what??? It doesn’t exist…
Declare their opposition to war and refuse to fight (or join the military). If they come to their moral stance once they’re in the military, they’re discharged (after jumping through the bureaucratic hoops).
It remains that they can not and will not be soldiers.
Pharmacists who have and practice self-described religious scruples on customers should be treated exactly as the military treats COs; they should be discharged.
Religio-pharmas have no right to practice medicine; therefore, they have no right to countermand, by refusing to fill, a physician-prescribed medication.
Since when is it all right for these wackos to practice their religion on me? I say if you want to be a pharmacist, leave your religion outside the door of the pharmacy. It is, after all, a secular occupation. Have the decency to separate your religion from my state of health.
I say we round up a bunch of Amish young people and send them in to places like Walgreens and Target to apply as cashiers. After they’re hired, they can explain that they won’t use the machines, but that they’re very good at math and will be pencil-totaling up everyone’s holiday shopping. And then we’ll see if this is really about religious freedom. Because I’m willing to bet a hefty and irresponsible sum of cheddar that those cashiers wouldn’t last until 5pm that day, and places like Target sure wouldn’t be hauling out the Civil Rights Act and explaining to its customers that they should just form a line all the way back to the toilet cleaning products and patiently wait for Mary Jane to carry the fucking nines.
I really don’t understand why so many people are so tolerant of this bullshit. (Of course, I don’t mean the people here.) Do they really not understand the extent of the zealotry?
I can do math in my head faster than most clerks these days can using the register…if it wasn’t for sales taxes at least… 🙂
Or thinking of the situation over in Oakland, what if a Muslim employee objected to selling alcohol (many Targets now carry wine)?
What part of “LEGAL drug prescription” do these folks not understand??? Maybe someone should start asking to see the marriage license of a guy picking up his Viagra prescription, or require that his wife pick it up…oh, she didn’t know you were taking it? You haven’t had sex with her in 5 years? Ooopsy-daisy…no little blue pill for YOU, you naughty boy!
I’ll just call you AbacusScribe from now on. 😉 I am Mary Jane, struggling to carry the damn nines, lucky I don’t overdraw my checkbook.
I had an argument with a conservative just the other day about this issue on a non-political blog, and while my friend closed the thread before we really got to the end of it, near as I could tell the conservative thought Plan B was RU486. I know this isn’t charitable of me and I really try hard to avoid being too judgmental, but I’m starting to think that a big chunk of them are just dumb and arrogant. ::shrugs::
wants them, dumb and arrogant…woe be it if their base ever starts actually READING and THINKING.
And I credit/blame my brother for the math thing; we’d play games where I had to total points, and he wouldn’t let me use a pencil and paper — I had to figure out the total in my head then he’d check me to see if I was right. Actually made it great for shopping; I could keep a running total in my head, add 10% to cover taxes, and stay well within my budget. (He also taught me how to play 7-Card Stud when I was about 7 or 8; we stopped playing about the time I started beating him regularly, but that’s another story… 😉 )
Get Scott Flanberg’s book “math made easy” 🙂 he teaches how to do everything forwards, so there’s nothign to carry.. and you’ll be astounding friends as if you were a genius or something 🙂
How many Quaker police officers do you know? If you have a moral or religious objection to carrying a gun, you’re not going to go into a job where it’s required. I haven’t seen too many Jehovah’s Witnesses getting into the phlebotomy practice, either. (One thing about the JW’s, at least they don’t force their religion on people; you say no, they say you’re going to hell…I can live with that.)
If they feel that strongly, they should work at a Catholic hospital or pharmacy that carries zero birth control…then again, those places probably don’t pay as well…
have you read/ or CAN you read the pharmacists stance on this?? How do you compare handling/evaluating/dispensing medicine with being in the army?? This is more for entertainment than discussion….. get a clue….
First of all, thanks for the candid arguments outlined above…
(1) this discussion is made to look like the ONLY medicine that pharmacists refuse to fill are Plan B medications…. that’s simply not the case. I make judgment/moral decisions daily on all type of medications and medical interactions. If you think all that pharmacists do, is count out a pill or try to find a way to make sure you don’t get plan B, please become educated. The next time a post stroke patient goes to an Immediate care location to get an antibiotic for his “common cold” and that physician does not realize he/she is on a blood thinner… in 48 hours the patient could be dead due to drug interactions… this happens MANY times a day… but what do I know — I should be pumping gas as mentioned above…
(2) You have your right to feel/think as you do. I believe life starts at implantation or a fertilized egg. Scientific evidence also supports this claim. I am not preaching or trying to spread anything that has been PROVEN untrue.
(3) there is NO federal law that says a pharmacist must fill a RX. Simply does not exist. There are a few states that have some bylaws that give guidelines, but not many. Fortunately in the state I practice – I am NOT required to fill a prescription. Whether it’s Methadone for an addict trying to get more medicine that prescribed (yes, I use a Moral conscience to say “NO”) or a Plan B pill. That’s my right…. You have your rights… no one is saying you can NOT get that medicine, he/she is simply saying that you can not get that medicine at that location at that given time….. Many on here make it sound like the pharmacist took the rx and cut it with scissors in front of them….
** I am sorry if you had a bad experience with a pharmacist. It’s going to happen. I see patients daily who have had “bad experiences” with their physician. If a pharmacist chooses not to fill a prescription, he/she should give an alternative course of action. Any time I have refused to fill the plan B, I call another specific pharmacy – get the location and details and give it to the patient. I have NEVER had one patient complain or make remarks that are echoed above… Sorry, you feel that way… Dr RW
There’s a huge difference between warning a patient about drug interactions and refusing to fill a prescription based on personal religious beliefs. Put simply, the former action is taken in the patient’s best interests. The latter action is contrary to the patient’s interests. If you insist on putting your personal interests ahead of the patient’s, you shouldn’t be involved in any aspect of the medical profession.
you say
Fine, lets have a cite for your claim. You prove when “life begins”. Last time I checked life began 4.5 billion years ago and there’s been no end to it since. So put up or shut up. Lets have a cite that says “life starts at implantation”. And please make it an authoritative source.
The sperm was alive before fertilization, so was the egg. Your point is what?
…or simply refuse to face facts.
Plan B prevents fertilization. From the GOA report:
Ah, but your mind is made up already, right? Your pharmacology degree gives you license to practice social engineering on an autocratic basis, right?
GAO report: link (.pdf)
and end of discussion.
Some of these Pharmacists for Life need to pull their noses out of their Bibles long enough to edjumacate themselves by catching up on published research that is rapidly becoming common knowledge to everyone but them. But then they’d lose their last excuse to deny women birth control: sheer ignorance.