Ohhh I didn't know what CYA. Thanks. :) Makes sense. It's good to know also that they can't use religious convictions as a reason for refusing -- I would assume that would apply to distributing the morning after pill, too?
Pharmacy Refuses To Fill Birth Contol Pills-Do They Have That Right?
by wednesday 53 Replies latest watchtower medical
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Scully
It appears since this pharmacist has said he did it b/c "they cause cancer"
Does the pharmacy also sell cigarettes? or estrogen patches for menopausal women?? those cause cancer too.... Do they sell candy bars that are 50% saturated fat that contribute to heart disease, obesity and certain types of cancer??
What a weasel.
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wednesday
yes it does, as i said 3 pharmacists that worked in Denton tx were fired for refusing to fill a script for the morning after pill to a rape victim. They all worked at the same pharmacy. But Eckerds has a written policy that forbids them to refuse to fill meds.
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bebu
There is still something about this that doesn't set right with me. Could be that it is just me. (Prolly is.)
But, why was such a small issue turned into such a tirade? I thought people were advocating 'tolerance' now. Tolerance cuts both ways, not just for the first person to cry "foul!" This is a molehill. There are worse things than someone sticking to his convictions.
Medicine is a terribly complicated area! I don't need to tell you nurses that--esp when you had to deal with the blood issue. Ideally, one could find a niche that will not bring any conflict. Ideally, one will not be working in a place that presents these choices. But these days, that is getting harder to do, and I don't think that insisting certain religious people be barred from certain jobs is the right answer, either. My husband is in orthopedics, and so he doesn't have to deal with most of these issues... but who knows what people with hidden agendas will do? I shudder to think.
That is why I think STILL that if the client AND the provider could both be gracious to each other, it would be a balm. If I were the surprised customer, yes, I would be somewhat upset that I had to go to another pharmacy; but I wouldn't contact the press and act like a scandalized victim. That's why I personally find the reaction of the client overblown.
(BTW: Surely, if any employee signs a document to dispense whatever medicine is in a prescription, then that's what they agreed to! If they lose their job over their conscience, then that is not the company's fault either.)
Sorry for the long-winded comments. Ethics in medicine is not so quickly solved.
By me, especially.
bebu
*ducking-and-running class*
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wednesday
BeBe, u are a sweetheart. If life could be so simple. Apparently the pharmicist is just a jerk, b/c surley this has come up before now. as Sculy says, if he refuses bc pills, well we then open the box here, condoms, jelly, and all the other stuff. Where so u stop? I could see your argumrnt for the abortion pill. B/c if my pharmacist came to me and told me of his religious confictions I would gladly go somewhre else. But for bc pills? this guys is as Scully said a Wessel, and i would not be surprised if he isn't looking for a new job soon. His job is a public trust job.
Actually, i really do not blame her for calling the media. U can't let people do this kind of stuff. He needs to be called on the carpet for his stance.
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Sumflower
I think what bugs me the most is that those pills come prepackaged. All he had to do was put the dial in a bag and hand it to the customer service rep. Technically even the CSR should have been able to assemble that prescription without issue. So was he trying to make a statement?
As a nanny I was often asked to do religious and holiday things. I did them, I figured it was my job and I was being paid for it. I accepted my XMas bonus each year, how annoying would it have been for me to say "sorry, I can't take your kid to get their picture with Santa... oh, is that my XMas bonus???" Work is work... worship is worship. Now if they asked ME to get my picture taken with Santa.. then I would have drawn the line.
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Sumflower
I want to add that I think tolerance is great, and ideal... but there is a line between your own rights and infringing on the rights of others.
It underminds the patients intelligience to suggest that he must refuse to fill it for her- is she not capable of making an informed decision of her own? What next, Mountain Dew and nutra sweet?
Often times the pill is prescribed for hormone regulation, and estrogen or progesterone dominence can also be cancer causing. By refusing he is by implication saying he is a better judge of what is right for her than her Doctor or herself.
Now, maybe he does have a legal right to do so. But others then have the legal right to go elsewhere for the RX.
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cruzanheart
Let me tell you, if any pharmacist did that to me, I'd hit the ceiling. I was grumpy enough today when they couldn't refill my antihistamine prescription because their computers were down and they couldn't give me a couple of pills because they needed a label to go on them. I miss the old days when my pharmacist knew me well enough to give me something to get me through the weekend because he knew my doctor was going to refill the prescription anyway, and he called my birth control pills "anti-personnel pills."
Nina
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xenawarrior
I think that if an individual in any position cannot or will not perform the essential functions of that position, they are no longer qualified for that position. In this case one of the essential functions of a pharmacist's position is to dispense medications prescribed by others. The pharmacist's position is not to prescribe -that is the medical professional's job. His was to follow the orders the doctor wrote. I can see a pharmacist looking at drug interactions and seeing a conflict with something prescribed but then the remedy for that situation would be to call the physician and inform him/her of the conflict so the prescription can be changed. That's simply safety and we expect that. If his religious affiliation means to him that he has a problem with a facet of his job- he should find a different job instead of forcing his religious beliefs on others. His job is to dispense medication-not to dispense only certain medication.
Wednesday, thank you for posting about your struggles with the blood issue and being a nurse. I wondered about that. It sounds like you took the right route and tried to find a part of the field where you wouldn't be exposed to that conflict.
XW
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SixofNine
Between this dumbass, the dumbass pharmacist' refusing to sell "morning after" pills in Denton TX, and George W Bush, Texas is being represented to the world as a bunch of religious idiots. We aren't all religious!