Pharmacy Refuses To Fill Birth Contol Pills-Do They Have That Right?

by wednesday 53 Replies latest watchtower medical

  • Yerusalyim
    Yerusalyim

    Wednesday,

    I agree in part...but you're then trampling the religious freedom of the individual pharmacist...assumming this is based in religion. I as a Catholic could never fill a prescription for an abortificant...it's against my religion...to do so would not only violate principle for me but also result in an automatic excommunication...not as serious as DFing is...but still not a good thing.

    Why does your personal medical belief override my personal religious freedom?

  • wednesday
    wednesday

    I used to work on a surgery floor, and the catholic nurses there often would refuse to care for D&C patients b/c they would say it was a abortion being done under a different name. So i ended up with all the D/C patients b/c they would refuse to care for them. patients rights has gotten stricter since then but even now i know nurses that do that. If i remember correctly, the hospital would not do abortions outright, but many were done as D/C's. so everytime a D/C came in, the catholic nurses got hostile.

    Bebe, that pharmacist has a right to his own opinions. but if u work in the medical area, u had better find an area to work in that will not bring u into daily conflict with your beliefs. We should not all have to bend to your whims . I had to with the blood issue, i had to find an area that did not adminster blood.

  • somebodylovesme
    somebodylovesme

    I hope this doesn't sound too brash or closed-minded... it might... But if I had beliefs that strong -- that there would be certain scripts I would refuse to fill, then I would not work in that field. It seems no different than saying, I want to be a cop, but I don't want to help people of a certain group or people who make certain decisions. When your job is to help people and people rely on you to perform an imperative service, such as filling a prescriptions, then your personal beliefs need to take a back seat to the commitment you have made to your patients and your profession.

    Makes me mad. :(

  • Yerusalyim
    Yerusalyim

    So, just be mad...your analogy is wayyyy off by the way.

    Seriously...a pharmacist should quit his job so you can have unrestricted access to abortificants?

  • wednesday
    wednesday

    Yeru, when i became a nurse, i am under guidelines from the state board of nurses. I am to do my job, and care for the patient. If my religious beliefs interfere with that, i have to find somone who will take care of my patient and patient care cannot be compromised b/c of my beliefs. Otherwise, i need to find a area to work in that does not violate my religious beliefs. The public does not have to bend to my whims, i am under guidelines to care for my patient. I am assuming the pharmacist is under the same guidelines.

    When i was a JWS, i did not feel like I could administer blood, so i found other areas of nurisng where it did not become a problem. I did not make the system bend to my whims.

  • Yerusalyim
    Yerusalyim

    So let the pharmacist find someone to fill the scrip

  • wednesday
    wednesday

    i just called Wallgreens and talked to the pharmacist. she told me it is true a pharmicist can refuse to fill a script, but generally better have a darn good reason for doing it. Religious beliefs are not a reason. The pharmacist in question, (that refused to fill the bc pills) said he would not fill the BC pills b/c "they cause cancer" He changed his story b/c of media presure. She agreed that had to be a CYA b/c that is just crazy. She also told me that recently Eckerds fired in Denton 3 pharmacists from the same pharmacy b/c they refused to fill the morning after pill to a rape victim . Eckerds has a policy that u must not refuse to fill meds and if u do u will be fired. U have to sign this agreement before u go to work for them.

    She agreed, if walllgreens itself did not supply the abortion or morning after pill, then no problem but if they did, refusl to fill it is not ok. and she too agreed that if u feel that strongly about this, u need to find another job.

    on a amusing side note, she did say however, she hated cigs and wished she could refuse to sell them.

    Yeru, i am not on the side of abortion, i am personally against it. That is why i would never go to a family planning clinic or abortion clinic and seek employment. To do so would be crazy. I do not however try to interfere with the rights of others who want an abortion.However, i would not refuse to care for a patient who had an abortion or no would i refuse to adminster the pill , as a nurse. It is not my job to make those decisions for others.

    The problem with another pharmacist filling the script, rarely would u have 2 pharmacists there at the same time. I suppose an arrangemt could be worked out where u could call another pahrmacist and ask for help. However, as i said with blood transfusions, it just never really works out. I am not going to risk losing my license over it. So i worked in an area that was bloodless.

    It appears since this pharmacist has said he did it b/c "they cause cancer" he is CYA and probably won't do that again.

  • somebodylovesme
    somebodylovesme

    We're talking about birth control pills, not abortion pills, Yeru. If a pharmacist isn't going to serve his patients... then he needs to (a) work at a pharmacy large enough to ensure there will be someone to do what he refuses to do, or (b) get another job. That's my opinion and I'm sticking to it. :)

  • somebodylovesme
    somebodylovesme

    He refused to fill them because they cause cancer?!?! Isn't that for the FDA to determine, not a lone pharmacist? Sheeeesh.

  • wednesday
    wednesday

    It's a CYA, he came up with this after all the media coverage. CYA(cover your arse)

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