Pharmacists in New York are refusing
By on Aug 18th, 2006 at 3:36 pm
Pharmacists in New York are refusing
to refill Plan B prescriptions. A CVS supervisor notes that the “pharmacists apparently had no religious or moral objections to E.C. [emergency contraception] the first time around; it was that second time that proved the women’s behavior was ‘irresponsible.’” The New York Civil Liberties Union has filed a complaint.
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If you don’t want to fill the prescriptions — GET A DIFFERENT JOB!!
August 18th, 2006 at 3:38 pmDon’t want to do your job? Get another one.
August 18th, 2006 at 3:40 pm.
These poor women show up expecting to have their prescriptions filled, and then are refused. That must be embarrassing.
August 18th, 2006 at 3:41 pmNext they’ll be denying meds for gonohhrea and syphillis.
August 18th, 2006 at 3:44 pmHey this is great! Being a pharmacist, I now can judge which prescriptions to fill based on responsiblility! Didn’t get your refill of blood pressure medicine on time? Not gonna fill it! Viagra Rx? Not for your sir, I know your not married! Hey, hey you with the vaginal itch! Wasn’t because you were having pre-marital sex, was it? Nope, you don’t get your vaginal cream!
And, any Arab that comes in my store? No siree bob! No Rx for you and your likes, you terrorists!
Just call me the Pharm-a Nazi!!!
August 18th, 2006 at 3:45 pmOr a “scarlett letter” database, to track the sluts as they travel from state to state.
August 18th, 2006 at 3:45 pmhowever, you would think that after the first “scare” she might insist on a rubber? No? Still, pharmacists should have to give it out.
August 18th, 2006 at 3:46 pmBut I bet they have NO problem filling second Viagra and Cialis prescriptions for unmarried men…
Hypocrisy has no limits!
August 18th, 2006 at 3:47 pmThen men should not get Viagra refills. They get there prescription, and if they cant make a baby with a month supply of bonner pills, then thats it.
Plan B can be an end to abortions across the board. It should be over the counter like aspren, or condoms for that matter.
If there were a pill that men could take right before sex to prevent pregnacy, the pills would be in vending machines at the office!
August 18th, 2006 at 3:51 pmand the ironic part about these so-called pharmacists…
I betcha all 3 are male, and all 3 probably had sex before they were married.
And before exley, JMH, et al get their panties in a bunch
August 18th, 2006 at 3:52 pmThis was my opinion, and my opinion only, so I do not need to provide a link!!!
What gives them the right to not fill a prescription ? If it is a man’s sex pill they don’t have a problem. They need to get a different job if they have a problem filling the prescription. What a bunce of hypocrisies.
August 18th, 2006 at 3:57 pmThis reminds me the situation that occured at my workplace today.
I refused to restore some files from backup that were accidentally deleted. I had no problem restoriing the files the first time, it was that second time that proved that the users were irresponsible.
(Actually, if I had tried a stunt like that, I’d be cleaning out my desk.)
It’s not the role of the New York pharmacists to encourage ‘responsible’ behavior, or attempt to punish ‘irresponsible’ behavior. Their job is (apologies in advance for any pharmacists reading this) to put pills in a bottle and give that bottle to you. No value judgements with my prescription medication, thanks.
August 18th, 2006 at 4:04 pmPharmacists … the mommy and daddy for 30 year old American adults…
August 18th, 2006 at 4:05 pmHow about bakers refusing to sell donuts to people who are 20 lbs overweight? Or better yet anyone who could safely lose 20lbs? Particularly cops?
August 18th, 2006 at 4:07 pmIf that Hindu does not want to serve beef to the customers because, to him, cows are sacred, that Hindu should get out of the flipping burgers business and look for a job elsewhere.
August 18th, 2006 at 4:08 pmThese so-called pharmacists have heard that other so-called pharmacists have gotten away with it in other states so they are trying it out, too. It’s becoming a syndrome. Since when does a pharmacist have the right to guess at and judge someone else’s behavior when all they are supposed to do is fill a prescription? Do they have the right to ask someone with HIV if they contracted it through unsafe sex or through a blood transfusion? “We will be a religious state within 20 years.” - Howard Stern, March 5, 2004.
August 18th, 2006 at 4:14 pmNext they’ll be denying meds for gonohhrea and syphillis.
Comment by Barfly — August 18, 2006 @ 3:44 pm
And cancer. Killing living cells is murder, you know.
August 18th, 2006 at 4:16 pmDid any of these pharmacists consider that the second time a woman needs EC might be because she was raped or forced by her husband to have sex against her will? These people seem to have a problem with sex.
August 18th, 2006 at 4:19 pmAre they willing to adopt and support the children that are born because they wouldn’t hand out the pills?
August 18th, 2006 at 4:19 pmAnd how does that pharmacist know that the woman wasn’t raped, or the condom broke, or whatever…
August 18th, 2006 at 4:20 pmYou would think they would see that an irresponsible mother isn’t such a good thing either.
I don’t know why there is any debate on this, if they refuse to fill any prescription for any reason anywhere they need to lose their license, period.
August 18th, 2006 at 4:20 pmThere are too many Americans who sympathize with these “pharmacists.” All the “pharmacists” have to say is, “It goes against my religion” and they have 90% of the population on their side. What if we used that excuse for everything? You could say that about anything.
August 18th, 2006 at 4:24 pmif they refuse to fill any prescription for any reason anywhere they need to lose their license, period.
Comment by onthefence
Ahhhhh, see. This is the hand that they are playing. For instance, I can refuse to fill a prescription that I know will harm the patient. Example: You get a prescription for a drug containing aspirin from an E.R. doctor who doesn’t know you are taking Coumadin (a major, possible life threatening interaction) . If I can’t get in contact with said doctor, I can “refuse” to fill the Rx.
August 18th, 2006 at 4:29 pmAlso, if you are doctor shopping (going to more than one doctor for controls), and we can prove it, we can “refuse” to fill a controlled Rx.
But, refusing to fill a prescription based on “responsibility” is wrong wrong wrong, and goes against everything we were taught on day 1 of pharmacy school. (primary focus is the health and well being of the patient)
There are too many Americans who sympathize with these “pharmacists.†All the “pharmacists†have to say is, “It goes against my religion†and they have 90% of the population on their side. What if we used that excuse for everything? You could say that about anything.
Comment by Republicans are the fear and smear party — August 18, 2006 @ 4:24 pm
But would the pharmacists have the law on their side?
August 18th, 2006 at 4:30 pmHow soon till these guys say OK I’ll sell you condoms today, but don’t come back because selling them to you tomorrow means you are having irresponsible sex.
August 18th, 2006 at 4:42 pmHere’s an analogy: people listen day in and out to the news in order to apply captions to the broadcasts for deaf people. What if someone had moral or religious objections to the news being broadcast? What if they felt some right-wing bias or left-wing bias left them free to rewrite what was being said?
I can’t for the life of me understand why this circumstance is any different from pharmacists refusing to fill prescriptions.
August 18th, 2006 at 4:51 pmThe “pharmacists” today are a complete joke and waste of time. In early times the pharmacist compounded the prescription on the premises using bulk chemicals (the mortar and pestle symbol came from that). At that time there was a need for an education and a pharmacist. Then it became necessary for the pharmacist to count to 25 to fill the pill prescriptions (they had to do 25 and 5 to get to thirty). Now they serve absolutely no useful purpose. They will tell you that they have to know all about the drugs to check on the doctors which is plain BS to justify their job. Most of the prescriptions are already filled by computer similar to an ATM machine. The doctors could make out the perscriptions on a “credit card” using codes that cannot be copied and with the necessary safeguards. The patient could insert the card into the machine and get his pills any time at his convenience. Pills never touched by human hands. This would reduce the cost of prescriptions by a huge factor. Maybe we could get Dibold? (the voting machine company) to build them so when a Neocon gets his fix the machine could substitute a croton oil pill (a super ExLax for you youngsters). (My brother is a retired pharmist and we have had this argument since 1956–I never convinced him either.)
August 18th, 2006 at 4:56 pmNo, pharmacists should not be making judgement calls on the morality of women.
August 18th, 2006 at 5:04 pmBUT, the fact that you need a REFILL for EMERGENCY contraception could just mean that you are too stupid to live.
We want to force people to do things that are against there beliefs? Seems very anti american to me.
August 18th, 2006 at 5:05 pmWhere is the ACLU when we need them?
August 18th, 2006 at 5:05 pmYou know, sometimes wives are forced to have sex with their husbands when they don’t want to.
Just throwing that out there, so, no need for speculation about Wayne and I ;-D
Have a great weekend, all!
August 18th, 2006 at 5:10 pm#26
August 18th, 2006 at 5:14 pmClyde, I will respectfully have to disagree here. I, for one, don’t count pills. I make sure what you are getting matches what the doctor wrote. Also, I will check for interactions (via computer) and will take the necessary steps, when a major interaction is indicated, for the safety of the patient. It’s the technician who “counts” the pills. But that’s not it. I work with a facility that takes care of the mentally ill. I evalute and make recommendations to doctors regarding medicines and interactions. I work with the facility to make sure their “adult” foster care patients are taking the meds correctly.
But, my most important job, is having one on one contact with patients regarding their meds (prescription or OTC). Helping others stay healthy is the most fulfilling part of my job. There is a reason why pharmacists are the most trusted profession (tho these 3 idiots are making it harder to retain that title)
Seriously, would you want your medicine counted by a technician, checked by a pharmacist, and then consulted or would you rather just trust any teen-ager to fill it, since after all, it’s just counting tablets into a bottle!
Their job is to fulfill perscriptions. If they won’t do that, they should be fired. RogerRoger, if your job is to sell widgets and you refuse to sell them, I fire you and get a better salesman. Would that be a violation of your rights, whiner.
August 18th, 2006 at 5:17 pmWe want to force people to do things that are against there beliefs?
Comment by Roger_Roger — August 18, 2006 @ 5:05 pm
If part of your job is doing things against your beliefs, you need to get another job.
Your opinion would be worth exploring if the pharmacists had denied first-time fills and not refills, as is the case. Also, the pharmacists denied the refills not because it goes against “their beliefs”, but because they thought the women were “irresponsible”. I hope we can agree judging the women’s moral character is not their call.
August 18th, 2006 at 5:18 pm#24, Good point, Mark!
August 18th, 2006 at 5:26 pmPharmacists judging a woman’s character is definitely not their call. Do these women get to judge their pharmacist’s character? I recently got a prescription for pain. I do not expect to be asked if something I did caused the pain so that my pharmacist can judge me. These pharmacists would make better priests.
August 18th, 2006 at 5:28 pmDrxj, I agree with you on your posts….I have used the same small pharmacy for years and refuse to change because on several occasions my pharmasist has caught what could of been life threatening drugs priscribed by my doctors…His advice has been life saving and he knows I appreciate him and his tiny staff.. With out a doubt they would not deny or be critics of a persons priscriptions……Blessings
August 18th, 2006 at 5:36 pmI will only patronize pharmacists who have had pre and extra marital sex.
August 18th, 2006 at 5:53 pmDrxj and Sharon
I respect your arguments but there is one point of mine that neither of you addressed but Drxj alluded to. All of the comparrisons and cross-checks you take credit for are all programmed into the computer. The pharmacist reads the computer and tell the customer. It is not a big deal for the computer to print out a statement saying there is an apparent mistake, please check with your doctor. The same thing the pharmacist does. If the computers can fly the space shuttle and other airplanes it can certainly count out a few pills. And that is my point. I do not deny that the pharmacist does valuable things for the medical profession. I do contend that Wal-Mart or Safeway should not be required to hire a pharmacist that I have to pay for just to get a few blood pressure pills that do not work because I have to pay so much for the pills it drives up my blood pressure more.
Sharon, we have a young Boxer puppy (6 months and 22″ at the shoulders and all legs. We have found that big dogs are nice and little puppies are cute. Just don’t put a big puppy in a porcelain doll shop!
August 18th, 2006 at 6:08 pm#6,
I would like acccess to the “scarllett letter” database.
August 18th, 2006 at 6:23 pmThese people seem to have a problem with sex.
Comment by Wayne A. Schneider — August 18, 2006 @ 4:19 pm
Yeah I do too, not enough. (sorry its Friday).
August 18th, 2006 at 6:25 pmComment by DRxJ
Sorry friend… sounds like to me your job is just a human doing what a computer backed vending machine could do … BUT with a human touch for those that dont like interacting with computers and machines….
August 18th, 2006 at 6:51 pmHay Clyde, I agree with the puppy issue..This little black lab I got at 10 pounds and the litter runt is now 28 inches at the shoulder, well over 100 pounds and a typical lab…All smiles, still mentaly 8 weeks old and chases butterflies.
Like boxers, had one once. Found her and a german shepherp pup on a logging road right after a heavy snow. we were 4 wheeling and followed a double set of tracks and they they were. Both were pups and had been dumped…..Only one problem, she would go for a run with the shepard and come home with porcupine quills in her face. The shepherd never did..After 3 expensive visets to the vet I gave her to a nice family with a huge fenced yard. The vet said some dogs are like that, never learn a lesson. That same thing seems to be a charicture flaw with the present administration..Never learn a lesson..LOL..That was in Idaho when I lived on Hayden Lake…….Sorry I am off topic..Oh well……Blessings and good luck with the porcelin dolls…
August 18th, 2006 at 7:02 pm#41 Gerald
Just what I said but without the sarcasm. We may see the day. The reason it is not available now has nothing with the Pharmacists, after all they are just doing their job in most cases, present post excepted, but for the same reason we cannot import the pills from Canada, even the French Canadians can count to 25, Pharmaceudical Company and Bushco GREED.
August 18th, 2006 at 7:15 pmI love dog stories, really.
August 18th, 2006 at 7:21 pmOk we all know the Pharmacist really shouldn’t be doing that. Besides if enough Pharms start this stuff, wouldn’t the drug companies start getting a little upset?
August 18th, 2006 at 7:23 pmDo pharmacists have a Code of Ethics as a part of their professional standards? I would think this behavior is unprofessional, in that it goes against patient autonomy. And it is patronizing.
August 18th, 2006 at 7:39 pmYeah I do too, not enough. (sorry its Friday).
Comment by For Truth
I’ll let you borrow my movie popcorn body butter, if you like…
August 18th, 2006 at 8:51 pmWell, as a consideration I’ve had “emergency calls” for Plan B. I’ve gotten “emergency refill” phonecalls for Plan B. In every case of a “refill” it has been for a young lady trying to induce an abortion of a 3-6 month old pregnancy.
August 18th, 2006 at 8:56 pmMaybe CSV should refuse to pay their salaries.
August 18th, 2006 at 9:11 pmMaybe people should refuse to shop at CSV
August 18th, 2006 at 9:11 pmIn every case of a “refill†it has been for a young lady trying to induce an abortion of a 3-6 month old pregnancy.
Comment by bones
Oh my god. Does it work? Sounds dangerous.
August 18th, 2006 at 9:13 pmIf those CSV pharamists care so much about potential human life, let them do something about the life being destroyed in Iraq for nothing. These pharmacists are just elitits moralists who want to control women. They get off on it.
August 18th, 2006 at 9:13 pmcmw,
I didn’t get that the pharmacists were so worried about potential human life, they were judging women they considered loose (for lack of a better word), because they’d been in for Plan B more than once.
August 18th, 2006 at 9:17 pm48
Tell it to the phoney moralists in the State govts and in the US Congress who cut back on sex education funds and health care funds, and instead preach abstention.
More teens are having babies than ever thanks to the phoney women-hating moralists. They hate their mommies so they take it out on all women.
August 18th, 2006 at 9:17 pmNot that there’s anything wrong with that — being loose, that is.
August 18th, 2006 at 9:18 pm53
August 18th, 2006 at 9:19 pmWell why else would they withhold contraceptives? Would they care if the person was buying lubricants to masturbate more effectively?
Their phoney argument is that they care about human life, about aborting a potential fetus. It’s an abortion issue. Is that so hard to figure out.
cmw,
That’s just what I got from reading the article.
August 18th, 2006 at 9:31 pmSomething is going on on this blog. Posts are being deleted and then changed. Zooey orignally asked me “who peed in your cup.” and i replied - “a CSV customer seeking emergency contraceptives” now both those posts are gone.
August 18th, 2006 at 9:46 pmis everything being made up by the blog masters? What fun!
August 18th, 2006 at 9:46 pmcmw,
Apparently, we’ve been crass. Welcome to the “deleted” club.
August 18th, 2006 at 9:53 pmI will support women’s rights when they support father’s rights… We’re all equal correct?
http://mensnewsdaily.com/ 2006/ 04/ 02/ the-case-of-matt-dubay-why-all-leading-conservatives-got-it-wrong/
August 18th, 2006 at 9:53 pmZooey
August 18th, 2006 at 9:56 pmCrass? peed is not crass
The IRaq war is crass. Murdering 1000 Lebanese civilians is crass. But the phoney moralists who run this blog are probably afraid of offending CVS. CVS is probably a big contributor to John Podesta.
cmw,
I’ve been deleted for a gross comment involving pus, telling someone impersonating me to get their own f*cking name, and who knows what else. I think someone at TP was raised with manners, or has a weak tummy.
August 18th, 2006 at 10:01 pmcmw,
We’re not deleted afterall. It’s on the thread above.
August 18th, 2006 at 10:15 pm#61 - Portupic,
Well, you just sit there and hold your breath, ok?
August 18th, 2006 at 10:30 pmCode of Ethicas for Pharmacists
August 18th, 2006 at 11:16 pmOk Zooey, you got it.
August 18th, 2006 at 11:19 pmI suggest that if a woman becomes pregnant because of a pharmacist refusing to fill her perscription, she should sue the pharmacist and the business for 20 years of child support.
August 19th, 2006 at 1:59 amImma refuse to server burgers because Ima vegetarian
August 19th, 2006 at 12:38 pmI will support women’s rights when they support father’s rights… We’re all equal correct?
Comment by Portupic — August 18, 2006 @ 9:53 pm
Fine, if you ever get me pregnant, I’ll have an embryo-ectomy and you can have it transplanted in your uterus… Otherwise, the only rights you have are to wear a condom.
(For the record, I would not be irresponsible in the first place, but really, the women who are this irresponsible shouldn’t be having any children).
August 19th, 2006 at 1:11 pmI would like acccess to the “scarllett letter†database.
Comment by For Truth —
And poach on (no offense DRxJ) pharmacists only means of getting a date for Saturday night? It would be quite clever actually (if there were such a database), sort of like a men’s room wall just for pharmacists’ booty calls: Lonely? For a good time . . . And they could dangle a little “plan b” to sweeten the deal if the woman isn’t persuaded by their rakish wit.
August 19th, 2006 at 2:19 pmPharmacists should be doing their job and stop being judgemental of their clients.
What goes around, comes around.
August 19th, 2006 at 3:48 pmAll the “pharmacists†have to say is, “It goes against my religion†and they have 90% of the population on their side. What if we used that excuse for everything? You could say that about anything.
Doctors could use this same excuse when refusing to order a life saving blood transfusion, “It goes against my religion”.
August 19th, 2006 at 3:52 pmCVS just bought Osco, which means that this type of oppressive behavior is something that we are going to see a lot more of. It’s disgraceful that CVS refuses the rights of its female customers to their medications that were prescribed for them by a doctor.
Here is what worries me the most: I am manic depressive. I take lithium and Wellbutrin so that I can manage my symptoms and live a terrific life. As we all know, $cientologist$ are vehemently opposed to psychiatric medications. If we commit this slippery slope by permitting judgmental male JesusFreaks who have an unhealthy fixation on a woman’s perceived lack of virtue, what’s to stop some Lover of Xenu from refusing to fill MY meds on religious grounds?
If and when that would ever happen, I would not simply take it lying down. In fact, by then I will be off my meds, and when that happens, shenanigans often ensue.
August 19th, 2006 at 4:35 pmCVS just bought Osco, which means that this type of oppressive behavior is something that we are going to see a lot more of. It’s disgraceful that CVS refuses the rights of its female customers to their medications that were prescribed for them by a doctor.
Here is what worries me the most: I am manic depressive. I take lithium and Wellbutrin so that I can manage my symptoms and live a terrific life. As we all know, $cientologist$ are vehemently opposed to psychiatric medications. If we create this slippery slope by permitting judgmental male JesusFreaks who have an unhealthy fixation on a woman’s perceived lack of virtue to commit such acts of outright discrimination, what’s to stop some Lover of Xenu from refusing to fill MY meds on religious grounds?
If and when that would ever happen, I would not simply take it lying down. In fact, by then I will be off my meds, and when that happens, shenanigans often ensue.
August 19th, 2006 at 4:39 pmPharmacists are licensed professionals who have taken an oath to fulfill their duties in a professional manner and in the best interests of the patient. This situation is not simply refusing to fill a prescription based on moral beliefs, it is a violation of the terms of the license. They should lose their licenses.
We could remedy these situations pretty quickly by the following method.
Pharmacies could ID themselves as “full service” or “limited service”. If a pharmacy is designated “full service” it means a patient can be assured that if they go there with a legal prescription they will get it filled without any baloney.
“limited service” pharmacies would be those where the pharmacists would have the option of filling or not filling a prescription, any prescription, based on their moral standards. That way, all the pharmacists who have issues with one drug or another will have a place to work and everyone who feels compelled to support the pharmacists’ “right to choose” will have a place to purchase their medications (if the pharmacist doesn’t have a problem with it).
Let’s see just how long “limited service” pharmacies stay open.
For those who argue that the pharmacists’ “freedom” is being violated - GIVE ME A BREAK. Licensed professionals do not have the “freedom” to be irresponsible.
The pharmacist freely chose to go to pharmacy school, knowing there would be ethical dilemmas like this one. The pharmacist freely chose to take the oath and the license, and along with those, some reponsibilties. And the pharmacist freely took employment filling prescriptions. Refusing to fill a prescription is not an exercise of freedom; it is dereliction of duty and responsibilty and breaking an oath.
August 19th, 2006 at 6:31 pmIsn’t it irrational — if not down right irresponsible for pharmacists to be unaware that irresponsible women make irresponsible mothers? How ironic…
August 19th, 2006 at 11:41 pmThey do it to chronic pain patients all the time … and you never hear a word about it. It wasn’t until it happened to someone wanting a BC or EC that it made headlines
August 20th, 2006 at 5:57 pmhttp://www.chronicpainresourcecenter.com