Comments on: Pharmacist refuses prescription

By: Stacey6574

Stacey6574 — Unknown, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

It seems to me that you would have to be one extreme bastard in order to refuse filling a prescription for birth control.

Rainbows 4 Dinosaurs
I was refused birth control. I gave birth to my daughter at a Catholic hospital in 1998. My doctor and I decided to use the Depo Provera shot for birth control and she gave me a prescription to have the injection before I even went home. I was then told by the nurse that they would not fill it in the hospital pharmacy nor were they permitted to administer it. She made it clear she didn't agree with that policy, but of course it's out of her hands. I was pretty aggravated that I would have to make an appointment for after I went home and then have to deal with taking my new baby to my doctor's office just to get a quick injection. I was tired, babies are hard to take anywhere and I had never had to try it before.

By: jaraw

jaraw — Unknown, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

I really cant believe what you allow in the US of A.

NO dispensing chemist here in the UK is allowed to decide whether or not you are able to receive medically prescribed medicines. None. Zero and all the rest of the words you can find in a thesaurus.

If they were to tell me they could not dispense the treatment in front of other customers, they would be breaking confidentiality and surely you have that right still ?

arvadaatheist
does it really matter if a pharmacist is the owner ? Tell them to dispense or sod off and let someone else do it. Cannot understand the difference between big company and owner pharmacist. It's a service people, bollocks to their hang ups.

Second thoughts ... great idea for rivals to start a proper service, more time for the idiots to attend their services to the supernatural.

By: RoostaNH

RoostaNH — Unknown, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Hmm,if I were a pharmacist I might refuse to fill prescriptions for Folic acid for Pregnant women, since it interferes with the natural process of development It seems to contradict the theory of an intelligent designer. What if there are Jehovahs that are pharmacists or those who only believe in holistic medicine. I’m with those above that if a private or govt insurer includes a drug on their list of covered drugs, that to be a participating provider, you must provide all the drugs listed.

By: imrational

imrational — Unknown, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

I agree with the previous poster regarding lawsuits. It is not the job of a pharmacist to pass moral judgement on medications and individuals. That is between a person and their doctor.

If any drugstore chain refuses to fill such a prescription, a class action lawsuit should be filed!

And I'm saying this as a person who loathes lawsuits in general

By: charlie

charlie — Unknown, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Next we will be refused to purchase a property unless we donate a portion of our income to the church….dam….in around about way that around happens…crap

By: The502

The502 — Unknown, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

If it is legal for a doctor to prescribe a drug, I see no reason for a pharmacist to refuse filling that prescription. What if we look at all groups, not just the Christians. Are Scientologist pharmacists going to refuse to fill prescriptions of Paxil?

What about drugs that have more than one use? If they agree with one use of the drug, but not with the other use, will they question their customers needs?

By: tomwright

tomwright — Unknown, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

One of the large pharmacy chains, (can't recall), now has a policy where if they have a pharmacist with these objections, there will always be a second one available that does not.

But we have a seeming conumdrum here. Can we force a pharmacist to do something against their religious/moral belief?

In general no, but there is another dimension to this. Do they take government money? If so, I think they can not refuse any prescription permitted by those programs.

Like colleges, if you take money from all, you must admit all.

So if the pharmacy takes no public funding, (unlikely), then they can do as they please. Otherwise, there is an ethical problem here that THEY need to solve.

Do any of the pharmacy chains make it a condition of employment to fill any and all prescriptions presented?

By: mxracer652

mxracer652 — Unknown, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

syph,
Good points there, what good are these people, who are supposed to help, if they are picking & choosing??? Hopefully litigation stops this really fast, and as I see it, there is no difference between refusing service on religious beliefs, and refusing service on racial/sexist beliefs, and that’s just what it is, blatant discrimination. If you don’t want to do your job, quit, and go sweep floors at the seminary.

By: reluctantatheist

reluctantatheist — Unknown, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Darrow: this may seem a silly question, but if any of these pharmacies have a "We reserve the right to refuse" sign(s), is this in anyway applicable to the situation at hand?

While waiting on your answer, I'm going to write to whoever is the current spokesperson in my area (S.F Bay Area), & volunteer as an escort to these particular pharmacies.

Because I WILL have a few choice words w/the smock behind the counter. Oh, yes.

By: syphonius

syphonius — Unknown, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Why stop at prescriptions? Why don't we let doctors treat only those patients they feel like treating? Surely there will be a doctor somewhere to represent every group, right?

As for the thoughts about 'if they are not the only one in a certain area it's ok': no, it's not okay. Who defines the area? What if I have no vehicle and can only walk about two blocks to the nearest pharmacy? What's my area?

This is a horrible precedent and it needs to be stopped, by legislation if necessary. Pharmacists are providing a regulated public service and should never be allowed to make moral judgements about a patients treatment.