Druggists refuse to give out pill

[GiovanniC]

"I was shocked," says Lacey, 33, who was not able to get her prescription until the next day and missed taking one of her pills. "Their job is not to regulate what people take or do. It's just to fill the prescription that was ordered by my physician."

Some pharmacists, however, disagree and refuse on moral grounds to fill prescriptions for contraceptives. And states from Rhode Island to Washington have proposed laws that would protect such decisions.

Mississippi enacted a sweeping statute that went into effect in July that allows health care providers, including pharmacists, to not participate in procedures that go against their conscience. South Dakota and Arkansas already had laws that protect a pharmacist's right to refuse to dispense medicines. Ten other states considered similar bills this year.


http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=676&e=2...

[aquart]

1. Faith-based medicine.

I'll bet the Taliban do exactly the same thing.

[TheDebbieDee]

8. You are absolutely right, Aquart.

Pretty soon, we won't be able to tell the Chrstian fundies from the Taliban - both factions just so hell-bent on controlling the actions of non-believers. And if they fail in their first attempts at behavior control, both sides are ready to kill us in order to save our souls.

[LastDemocratInSC]

95. Headaches are God's way of punishing you for your many sins

"No, Mrs Myers. I know you're old and in poor health, but if I sell you aspirin or ibuprofen for your headaches I will be thwarting the will of God, and that is the one thing I shall never do."

[donheld]

123. Heart attacks are gods plan

if i sell you your heart medicine that will interfere with Gods design to kill you.

[saigon68]

127. THEY ARE THE TALIBORN AGAIN

What a bunch of Chauvinist PIGS-- What a bunch of religious fanatics

As the USA is dragged back kicking and screaming to the 13th Century.

Is there a Buddhist statue to DESTROY IN CHICAGO ???

[jdj]

145. but i betcha they'll sling that Viagra right over the counter, no

questions asked

[sniffa]

2. i think

we shouLd stop handing out meds to fundies - that may get their attention to how assinine they are

[reprobate]

3. Ah, the Faith Police. Copied from Saudi Arabia.

Isn't it wonderful what our once great nation has become?

I think it's terribly interesting to actually be a spectator at the self-destruction of an entire society. Not many people have that opportunity.

[puddycat]

48. yep, its always interesting watching civilizations decline

Here's an old Chinese Proverb: "It's better to be a dog in a peaceful time than be a man in a chaotic period"

Of course there is always the un-attributed curse "May you live in interesting times" which some think may have originated in the above Chinese saying.


Ain't life grand. Good ol' USA, once home of the brave, now just home of the afraid.

[barb162]

100. yes that is what is happening and the jerks who are doing this think

they are saving the society.

[liberal N proud]

4. They are moving fast.

Guys, get your vasectomies today, before they stop you.

[SayitAintSo]

59. Maybe that's what they REALLY want - Liberal vasectomies - LOL

[lcbart]

126. Vasectomies

I wonder exactly how long it will be before vasectomies are under attack also.

I don't believe that Abortion and Embryo protection is the real issue here, I believe the christian extremist target is really sex.

Actually "enjoying" sex is a subconscious (or perhaps conscious) target of the new "Moral" majority - They can't - because it brings them so much guilt that anyone else enjoying it just has to be evil.

One of my favorite discussion's with a christian was about the "Evil Sodomites " (read Homosexuals) - He was befuddled when I asked him if he and his wife had ever had oral sex - Then I asked him to look up sodomy in a dictionary. Haven't heard the word sodomy from him since.

[Krupskaya]

5. This should be a crime.

Withholding treatment. I can't believe this goes on in this country.

[KC21304]

6. We should boycott such pharmacies if possible. Even if we

ourselves do not have need for these medicines. I would think this could cause a lot of problems for them. I realize that in some cases that is not possible.

[iamjoy]

64. Boycott Wouldn't Be Fair

Such laws are made to sound like they protect freedom of religion, can't argue that, can you?
Companies would be prohibited from firing pharmacists who refuse to fill a prescription on moral grounds.
So, Fundie Pharmacist is employed by CVS (or whatever). He refuses to fill your b.c. prescription. You complain to management. But CVS can't fire the pharmacist because if they do, he can slap them with an employment discrimination lawsuit.

Don't you just LOVE it when they use the EEOC and First Amendment against us?

I imagine you could personally sue the pharmacist for malpractice if you suffer any ill health affects because of his/her decision, but with tort reform, good luck finding a lawyer to take the case.

[jwcomer]

70. Boycott Would Be Fair

You should not concede so readily.

Pharmacists are licensed same as doctors. A doctor cannot refuse you treatment on religious ground. Neither should a pharmacist - it would be a travesty of everything the medical community stands for. If that was acceptable then why not let the doctor discriminate on such grounds. What happens if your pharmacist is a Jehovahs Witness, can they just refuse any treatement that violates their beliefs?

Also, this is not a First Amendment issue.

[iamjoy]

117. Oh, I Agree In Principle

I have often pondered the Jehovah's Witness example myself.
But they will craft the law in such a way, that the companies are protected as well as the pharmacists.

Medical professionals treat regardless of religious beliefs? What - you must think we're living in a free country or something.

[KC21304]

73. Then they better damn well have a pharmacist on the premises

who can fill the prescription. Otherwise they can expect their business to suffer.

[ilovenicepeople]

153. Useing this here"cHRISTIAN" Logic ,wouldn't it be against "their" beliefs

to be a Pharmacist in the first place?I swear their #1 commandment is "Thou shall Hipocracize."


on Edit:Whould the "said" pharmacist have a problem giving a two year old a prescription of Retalin or Prozac????

[SemperEadem]

149. If the pharmacy employess pharmacists with these convictions

then there needs to be something posted at the front doors of the pharmacy and near the pharmacy area stating that the pharmacist on duty is ruled by his own religious convictions by not filling birth control pills and that the pharmacy totally supports the pharmacist in standing by his conviction. They should have to declare their intentions up front and in a publically conspicuous manner so that people can choose before entering into the store if they want to patronize a business who puts the religious beliefs of its employees above the health and well being of patients filling their prescriptions.

Also, on the phone when the doctor calls it in, the pharmacist should state right there on the phone to the doctor that he/she will refuse to fill the prescription. They should live their convictions out in the open and not hide and ambush the patient when she comes in to pick up her prescription.

Pharmacies should state unequivocably up front their religious stance on filling birth control pills.

[smiley_glad_hands]

7. Medical Fascism

We are a divided nation. Half of us live in a faith based reality, the other half live in...well reality.

[NJ_Lib]

9. Oh this just gets better and better...

By the hour...

[ilovenicepeople]

63. Pretty scary when one talks of "The Good Ole Days!"

and they mean "Tomorrow"

[barb162]

104. they have a mandate, they said so (51% is a mandate?) so they

will be getting bolder and bolder really fast now

[TahitiNut]

49. "Neurotics build castles in the sky; psychotics live in them."

I don't know who first came up with this cliche. I first learned it in my college psych courses. It is, however, very apt. I don't know how any sane person could view the public discourse in Amerika today and not regard the reich-wing as psychotic.

[puddycat]

51. * and his theocratic thugs are sociopaths

right-wing extremists are sociopaths. I wish to God that they were psychotic because then they would be harmless.

[snippy]

10. This is what happens when people vote republican.

This has occurred several times in the last year or so. On one occassion a rape victim was denied the morning after pill by the pharmacist. Even women who take birth control pills for medical reasons unrelated to contaception have been denied their presription.

I had hoped that some organization would make these laws an issue in the election. I think they should be an issue in both state and federal elections in 2006.

[RebelYell]

11. Birth control pills are more than birth control

Lots of women take them for other reasons, such as acne, or regulating menses.

I have to do things at work every day that go against my conscience. If I refused, I would be out of a job. What makes them so damn special?

[Lindsay]

14. They are Talibornagains.

THAT'S what makes them special.

[4_Legs_Good]

17. Talibornagains! I LOVE it

We gotta get that into the mainstream!

I'm using it at every possible opportunity! Heh heh heh!

david

[Dogmudgeon]

22. It's already in the mainstream

It's still early -- people are just starting to pick up on it.

--bkl

[4_Legs_Good]

30. I guess that means I'm *out* of the mainstream

Doh!

I'm glad to hear it's catching on!

david

[Rainbowreflect]

35. I love that! Funniest thing I've read in a long while.

[wicket]

47. I took it for endometriosis

...before I was using it as birth control. I don't know what I would have done with out it

[motherfather]

112. Indeed, it's quite common that birth control has nothing to do with sex.

My ex-girlfriend has been taking birth control since she was 14, simply because her menstraul cramps are so severe that they are crippling. She cannot move while she is suffering from them. In the meantime she was not sexually active until she was in college.

[slackmaster]

12. This is not breaking news, and dupe topic

Some doctors and pharmacists have been refusing to administer birth-control pills since they became available in the early 1960s.

This is a GD topic IMO, and there is already a tread there:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...

[annak110]

23. Prior to 1963 women could not buy "birth control items" unless they

were married and even then it was problematical. Margaret Sanger and others went to jail in the early part of the 20th century for attempting to help women get birth control and control of their own lives. In Sanger's speeches it is said she recalled,

" the death of her tubucular mother after 18 pregnancies, described the miserable lives of unwanted children, and explained why she dedicated her life to creating a world in which every child is a wanted child."

To take away the options of birth control medication and devices and to make abortion illegal is to make women baby factories and slaves, an ongoing project in Western Culture...

[GiovanniC]

33. What Qualifies Something as "Latest Breaking"?

This is a story in this morning's USA Today.

[barb162]

55. 12 hours old. so this qualifies obviously to be LBN; anyway I like

the subject.

[oscar111]

84. I also like to see it .. the more the better

..

[stanwyck]

13. My 21-yr. old daughter ran into

this at Eckerds. The druggist asked her how old she was before he would fill her BC prescription. (she is very petite and looks very young). He then lectured her on her "reckless" behavior in front of a line of customers. She was mortified. Needless to say, she switched to CVS. When she told me about the situation, I went to the pharmacy and confronted the pharmacist. He didn't equivocate whatsoever. Said he had his rights, too, and he felt it was his responsibility for her "health" to bring up concerns about using BC pills. I assured him her doctor had done her job and his job was to fill prescriptions. Period. I called Eckerd corporate and left a message on their voice mail, was told I would be called back. No one ever called.

[4_Legs_Good]

15. That is totally sick

I can't believe it. Geesh!

This country is getting rediculouser and rediculouser every day. I can imagine how embarassed your daughter must have been. Next time she should turn the embarassment back on the pharmacist.

Anyway, good work standing up to them!

david

[prodigal_green]

18. What relationship do pharmacists have with the chains?

I go to Eckerd in NYC and I have a TERRIFIC pharmacist. He has helped out when my mom was visiting and had a really bad reaction to something and when my aunt came up and had forgotten her medicine. I don't think these are corporate policies.

[stanwyck]

31. Doubt that it's Eckerd policy

more like renegade personal pharmacist policy which is tolerated by management. If they're aware. You're right to point out the distinction.

[Dogmudgeon]

27. Call your State Board of Pharmacy Examiners

Or what they are called in your state.

File a complaint. It may keep other women from being subject to the same degrading behavior.

I once got the "fatherly" treatment when I was buying condoms. I was 25 but looked younger. So I told the busybody that he had exactly one minute to apologize to me or he'd be facing a complaint at the state board.

I then made it a point to buy contraceptives at that store, and ONLY when he was on shift; and when I was seeing someone on BC pills, I'd make sure to get them filled there on his shift, too.

Fight back!

--bkl

[fishnfla]

45. Stanwyk do this!!!

if he discussed your daughters health care in front of other individuals he violated the HIPPA act, he will be fined 10K

[stanwyck]

56. Thanks! My daughter

is quite the activist. She'll pursue this. She's very involved in progressive issues at her college. Secretary of the Young Democrats. She's been in anti-war protests and marched for gay rights. So, she'll be able to raise hell on her own behalf. Best to keep the heat on these folks. The pharmacist might get off with just a reprimand, but maybe he'll be less likely to humiliate someone else.

[Scout]

76. keep us posted please? n/t

[MaraJade]

80. Agree

You must pursue this through your state's licensing board and
state pharmacy board. What this man did was illegal. Get him that
fine! He deserves it!!

[Terran]

46. Ha! That's great!

Way to f*ck wit 'em!

[ender]

36. lol...

oh yeh - you showed them with switching from eckerds, to the company that just bought them, cvs.

[stanwyck]

57. I didn't realize CVS

now owned Eckerds. Guess my daughter will have to switch to Walgreens...though there isn't one close to her college. Any suggestions?

[trogdor]

61. Your neighborhood supermarket.

I think Walgreens is a RW outfit too.

[Terran]

44. That is such utter BS!

Pharmacists do have professional responsibility toward the health of their customers, but it doesn't extend to questioning the use birth control pills, a med with no significant negative side effects. When doctors over-prescribe addictive drugs, pharmacists are wise to question that and sometimes refuse to fill such prescriptions, but this is totally different. Moral views have not a damn thing to do with it, it's the health of the patient ONLY.

You should make a complaint to your state Pharmacy Board about that pharmacist. I'm very serious about that, he needs to be disciplined for that behavior, and most states will still do that.

[anotherginger]

86. I emailed Eckerds about their policy....

and here is what they replied:

Dear Brooks-Eckerd Pharmacy Customer -

As healthcare professionals, our pharmacists' primary objective is to provide our patients with superior health information and unmatched standards of care.

Our company position is that our pharmacists comply with the policies and procedures to ensure that appropriate care is delivered to our patients. This prohibits a pharmacist from refusing to fill a prescription based on any religious, political or moral beliefs.

Brooks Pharmacy has traditionally carried and dispensed the Plan B product in question to our patients who present prescriptions, and will continue to provide it.

[barb162]

101. totally disgusting as I didn't know this was going on. Pharmacists

are in demand these days and they probably can't get rid of the jerk.

[Squeegee]

107. Do 7th Day Adventist Pharmacists

... give out any prescriptions as medicine is against their religion?

[LiberalFighter]

109. Name of pharmacist needs to be included...

a database of them would be good to have.

[motherfather]

114. Discussing prescriptions aloud seems like a possible HIPAA violation.

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) seems like it should protect from a Pharmacist mentioning something in the vicinity of the public that will lead them to be able to discern what prescription that person has been prescribed.

It's one thing to tell you the instructions, another to mention specific details.

[Skittles]

115. stanwyck, you need to keep calling

what your daughter went through was sheer abuse

[stanwyck]

154. She was very embarrassed

as she knew the clerk at the pharmacy...a girl she'd gone to high school with. Plus, there were other people in the store standing around while she was questioned by the pharmacist. Eckerd has never responded to my phone calls so I've made a written complaint to the corporate headquarters, hoping that a written account will have to be kept for legal reasons.

[SemperEadem]

151. he has no access to her medical records

so, in effect, he is talking out of his ass... letting his fantasies about the use of the pills cloud the reality of the situation... and giving him something to witness about when he goes to church on Sunday... "I thwarted a young woman's attempt to keep on going in an immoral lifestyle by refusing to fill her BC prescription, so now I get my 'soulwinners crown' from Jaysus when I go to heaven...."

I'd like to know, how much responsibility is he willing to take for interferring in the medical decision between the patient and her doctor if something adverse resulted in his interference in her medical protocol? Is he willing to pay for suffering and any physical damage that may occur due to his interference? Is this why * and his ilk are so hell bent against trial lawyers?

[stanwyck]

155. As parents

my husband and I have attempted to instill responsibility about sex in our son and daughter while relating how we feel sexual activity, when practiced with consideration and respect, is healthy and natural. We have always emphasized that sexual activity is adult activity with adult consequences. Our daughter consulted us for guidance when she became sexually active. I took her to a doctor who has been supportive and informative. The pharmacist was clearly outside his bounds of authority.

[The Wielding Truth]

158. That's right there are many reasons to take the pill,besides birth control

[petrock2004]

16. that's just

... so disgusting i couldn't think of what to write for a minute or two...

what about people, and i speak from experience, who are on the "pill" for something other than contraception? for abnormal ovarian cysts, or hormone regulation therapy?

are they going to outlaw hysterectomies too?

mammograms? removal of cancerous breast tissue?

no, no, no!! can't do ANYTHING that might keep a woman from BREEDING.

[katmondoo]

19. in the meantime add upon add for Viagra and other male sex drugs available

Do the druggest fill those presciptions without problems?

[petrock2004]

26. no, there's no problem with those drugs...

they INCREASE breeding, see??

it's all about women bearing sons for their men...

maybe i should spell that "wimin" and "menfolk"



seriously - think about this - they don't mind if the lower classes don't have any birth control - that's what they want, a huge slave labor army. so, the more babies they have, the less work the average "middle class" person has to do. of course, in their minds, the "middle class" is more like the landed gentry in merry old england during, well, KING GEORGE's reign... so when the new american landed gentry has kids, they're special, looked after by nannies, sent to private fundy schools, and trained in how to be CEO's. and for that, they don't need numbers. the only people they really need to breed are their wage slaves. think how many more walmarts can be opened if every walmart employee had a kid right now...

ok jeez i'm sorry... </rant> just felt the need to say that.

[barb162]

102. I am ranting along with you. This is all just crazy

[Bernardo de La Paz]

43. "Ad" is short for "Advertisement"

Only noted because you repeated the error twice, so it was not a typo. This is a simple common error made by many people.

[da_chimperor]

20. That REALLY pisses me off

Who the fuck do these people think they are? They are meddling in the personal lives of other people WHEN THEY HAVE NO FUCKING REASON TO! CONSCIENCE MY ASS!

[prodigal_green]

21. Do they refuse to sell men Viagra?

That leads to immorality as well.

[Skittles]

110. FAT F***ING CHANCE

nt

[MsAnthropy]

24. This article looks like a Rove plant

something very similar is on prevention.com, noted in the other thread. It's an inflammatory article, with very little physician oversight, written to distract us from what the repukes are really doing. If everybody over-reacts to this, they'll push through some other abortion shit and then say, well we didn't take away your pill. They've done this stuff over and over and we keep falling for it.

[stanwyck]

34. read today's USA Today

about pharmacists who have failed to fill prescriptions and even refused to return unfilled prescriptions. I don't think this is a plant. Wishful thinking. This is real. These incidences have happened. See me accounting of my daughter's experience at Eckerds. This is real.

[MsAnthropy]

37. It is happening, but the fact that it showed up in three different places

in one day is highly suspicious. They are blowing this out of proportion so that everyone gets used to it, like they have done with so many other issues.

[LiberalFighter]

113. This is about the 3rd separate occasion that the story has been reported

With same people

[ThomCat]

68. If he also refused to return the unfilled prescription

That HAS to be a violation of law and ethics. Now he's not just adhering to his own sense of morality, he's interfering with her ability to get the healthcare her doctor has ordered.

Any pharmacist who refuses to return an unfilled prescription should end up in Jail!

Any pharmacist who refuses to fill the prescription but gives you back the prescription to take somewhere else should be fired.

[Bridget Burke]

38. Nope.

It's been published here before.

There is a very real movement to allow pharmacists to refuse to fill prescriptions for the pill & to allow M.D.'s to refuse to prescribe it. For "moral" resaons, not medical.

[MsAnthropy]

42. I know, but look for tons of articles like this now

stating that they are going to push through all sorts of radical right wing outrages since they have a "mandate" and "the people behind them". I've seen the articles multiple already. It's all a smokescreen they put out so that we are distracted by the most ridiculous stuff and they can slide through anything they want to.

[Bridget Burke]

62. The articles have been out there for some time.

This is not new.

[barb162]

103. this is the first time I have ever seen an article like this and I

consider myself pretty well read. This is fascinating and disgusting.

[bin.dare]

125. does anyone have copies of

circulars, emails, letters, or whatever between pharmacists advocating this change of stance?
i am very interested to know who/what is the (specific) driving force behind this.

[underpants]

25. Wow! this and the creationist book thing in Ga. It didn't take them long

now did it?

[lumberingbear]

138. Glad your moving underpants is back. I think it is a hoot!!!

[Malva Zebrina]

28. this article is being talked about on another thread

but I am not surprised that anyone would think it a Rove Plant. I think we are going to see more and more articles that are religion based, and more and more pictures that have religion, specifically the Christian religion, as a theme somewhere within that picture.

[Bill McBlueState]

29. hacks

These guys go to school for years, and when it's all done, they end up working in a drugstore counting pills. They get a little bit of a complex going, and they have to pull stuff like this to feel important.

I wish I could count pills for more than $60K a year.

[sweetheart]

32. There should be a public interenet list of these jokers

Then we can boycott the ones that violate women's civil rights.
Is there such a list?

[lawladyprof]

136. Not Internet list but anti-Pill web site

anti-Pill organization Pro-Life America on the group's Web site, ProLife.com

[PatriotGames]

39. This is ridiculous. How can this be so?

[Bernardo de La Paz]

40. Giving physicians and pharmacists the right to kill

If it goes against a physician's conscience to treat a neo-Nazi or an abortionist, they could die and most certainly will suffer. How can this be ethical, right, or moral?

[GiovanniC]

50. Or What About Treating Homer-Seckshals?

[54anickel]

41. Remember this argument when the draft comes back. Perhaps we could

even use it to refuse to pay taxes.

[NashVegas]

52. Bullllllllllshit!

I'm sorry, but if I refuse to serve a paying client for my company on ethical grounds (as a liberal I have no morals, don't forget), and also make it impossible for any of my co-workers to service said client, there is nothing to protect my ass from being out on the street.

It must be so nice to have a bible to fall back on in times such as this.

[Q]

53. What's next? Refusing cancer patients their pain meds....

...on 'moral' grounds?

- We expected shit like this if Bush* stayed in office. It's only the beginning...as the Bush* Theocracy reverts to biblical law.

[nolabels]

60. Theocracy with biblical law

Frankly I don't even think we have a bill of rights anymore. I thought the Constitution was only ratified and excepted by the states mostly after they included the bill of rights.

The US has became like the country it threw off it's back.

And now we have a self appointed King who will dictate by his words, are we happy yet

[nytemare]

54. Don't give Rush his oxycontin

Then watch the poop hit the fan.

[DBoon]

58. They did it to abortion, they will do it to birth control

Without explicitly outlawing it entirely, they will for all practical purposes make it impossible to obtain in most red states.

Roe v. Wade was made possible by court decisions striking down anti-contraceptive laws:

To reach its decision in Roe, the Supreme Court drew on decades of case law that established that the government cannot interfere with certain personal decisions about procreation, marriage, and other aspects of family life. In Griswold v. Connecticut (1965), an appeal of the criminal conviction of the executive director of the Planned Parenthood League of Connecticut for providing contraceptives to married couples, the Supreme Court found that a state statute making it a crime to use birth control violated married couples' right to privacy. Seven years later, the Justices found that this right also applied to single people (Eisenstadt v. Baird, 1972). Together, these cases set the stage for Roe.

http://www.plannedparenthood.org/library/ABORTION/Roe.h...

[Maat]

66. Guys, I have to take Lo-Ovral 28 birth control pills...

they are the only ones my system tolerates and responds to ... and they prevent ovarian cysts. They got rid of one cyst, that was causing me to bleed to death. My 'globin count went down drastically.

Boy, these people are ignorant. Can't wait for one of them to say something to me.

[weezielove]

65. GUESS WHO BUSH PLANS TO HEAD UP REPRO RIGHTS??

Dr. Hager, the author of "As Jesus Cared for Women: Restoring Women
Then and Now." The book blends biblical accounts of Christ healing Women with case studies from Hager's practice. His views of reproductive health care are far outside the mainstream for reproductive technology. Dr. Hager is a practicing OB/GYN who describes himself as "pro-life" and refuses to prescribe contraceptives to unmarried women.

In the book Dr. Hager wrote with his wife, entitled "Stress and the
Woman's Body," he suggests that women who suffer from premenstrual
syndrome should seek help from reading the bible and praying. As an
editor and contributing author of "The Reproduction Revolution: A Christian Appraisal of Sexuality Reproductive Technologies and the Family," Dr. Hager appears to have endorsed the medically inaccurate assertion that the common birth control pill is an abortifacient.

[Ilsa]

81. Is there a campaign to stop him?

We need to make it clear we aren't going to put up with BS. Maybe if we can't get our birth control, we should tell our husbands and lovers, "No nookie-nookie". Maybe they'll help then.

[Behind the Aegis]

67. where will it stop?

Will they also be allowed to not serve people with AIDS? What about smokers who have lung cancer? This is foul! If they feel that strongly, let them open their own, PRIVATE pharmacies! Otherwise, shut the FUCK up! You serve the public and have no right to interfere with their medicine! That is criminal!

[0007]

69. You gotta be kidding me! Since when does the pharmacists

have the right to play Hight Priest? If whatever drug is approved by the FDA and a doctor writes the prescription how can anyone over ride it?

[Moonbeam_Starlight]

71. Might I suggest

that if you are a pharmacist or thinking about becoming one, if you feel there are certain drugs you cannot, in good conscience, dispense, do NOT become a pharmacist.

It's really a no-brainer, people.

[Skittles]

72. It really is

if you cannot fulfill the duties of a pharmacist DO NOT BE ONE

[buckettgirl]

74. good-bye reproductive rights

[dkofos]

75. Can't wait for my repug daughter-in-law to be denied the pill.

She doesn't believe it could happen.

[Skittles]

111. that's the thing about republicans

they don't give a flying f*** about ANYTHING until it AFFECTS THEM

[Danmel]

77. This is just appalling

How can states allow pharmacists to make such decisions. If they are not able to dispense medications they should NOT become pharmacists
Courts can make Lawyers defend people they don't want to. Doctors have to treat alcoholics and drug addicts and prostitutes. How can they allow pharmacists to deny patients prescriptions their doctors have written for them?

We are moving into a real danger zone in this country.

[Ilsa]

78. Please, don't anyone try to outbid me for this:

I think we're going to be needing these if shit continues the way it has.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=...

[1monster]

137. You are going to have to dye that BLACK. The pale blue color is just

too too seductive, you evil, seducing woman!

[Peter1x9]

79. Why this is so wrong

Druggists are forcing their beliefs on everyone else. If you are a part of a religion or whatever else that is opposed to birth control, then simply don't go to a pharmacy and buy it. But don't keep it away from others that have different beliefs than you.
And these new laws being passed are further eroding the separation between church and state. And I thought we had the constitutional right to be a member of whatever religion (or none at all).

[Mandate My Ass]

82. Clairebeth thread: Call to Action...especially for women.....

> President Bush has announced his plan to select Dr. W. David Hager to
> head up the Food and Drug administration's (FDA) Reproductive Health
> Drugs Advisory Committee. The committee has not met for more than two
> years, during which time its charter has lapsed. As a result, the Bush
> Administration is tasked with filling all eleven positions with new
> members.
>
This position does not require Congressional approval. The FDA's
Reproductive Health Drugs Advisory Committee makes crucial decisions on matters relating to drugs used in the practice of obstetrics,gynecology and related specialties, including hormone therapy, contraception,treatment for infertility, and medical alternatives to surgical procedures for sterilization and pregnancy termination.

Dr. Hager's views of reproductive health care are far outside the
mainstream of setback for reproductive technology. Dr. Hager is a
practicing OB/GYN who describes himself as "pro-life" and refuses to
prescribe contraceptives to unmarried women. Hager is the author of "As Jesus Cared for Women: Restoring Women Then and Now." The book blends biblical accounts of Christ healing women with case studies from Hager'spractice.


http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...

[truthisfreedom]

83. if you can't do your job, QUIT. GET OUT OF THE BUSINESS. end of story,

you self-righteous a$$holes.

[mortimer_az]

85. morals my ass

If a doctor or pharmacist or whatever refuses to treat someone on "moral" grounds, they should be thrown out of the profession.

Did you notice how the article said states from RI to WA, but only lists red-neck states as passing such bull-shit laws.

[snippy]

87. This needs to become a political issue for democrats.

It has been a political issue for the Reich Wing for several years which is why some republican states have laws allowing pharmacists do this. The Reich Wing got those laws passed.

[lawladyprof]

132. I agree wholeheartedly--see my post below--eom

[OldLeftieLawyer]

88. Pro-life

That's what these fuckers are pulling - insinuating themselves into the doctor-patient relationship, where they have no right to be.

Keep in mind that no one ever applies to pharmacy school except when they couldn't get into medical school. Or dental school. They're all frustrated doctors, powerless in their jobs, taking directions from their corporate owners and the doctors who write the scrips, and so some ass-hungry doctor-wannabe-failure decides to punish someone for taking BC pills.

If that were my kid, I'd have that pharmacist's ass on the wall in no time flat. That kind of person has no right to have a license, and, by the way, practicing medicine without a license - which is precisely what any pharmacist does when withholding a prescribed medication from a doctor's patient - is against the law. It's a felony in some jurisdictions.

Next time someone won't fill your birth control prescription, call the cops.

I'm a lawyer, and I'm serious.

[Jack Schitt]

89. I'm so sick of these God damn Fundies.

KEEP YOUR BELIEFS TO YOURSELVES! NOT EVERYONE BELIEVES IN THEM, YOU FUCKTARDS!



If I ever heard of anyone I know that didn't get her prescription filled because of moral objections, then I'd file to get the asshole fired or fined or something.

[WhereIsMyFreedom]

90. My new plan

I'll go work for a RW pharmacy. After I'm hired, I'll decide that all drugs are immoral (its God's will that you're sick) and refuse to fill any prescription. Heh, and they can't fire me because the law protects my right as a pharmacist to sit around on my ass doing nothing instead of my job.

[Sabriel]

91. Time for government-run pharmacies?

No hassle, no questions asked, no vilification of women/girls using birth control. If they're going to allow pharmacists to do this, then they'd better have an alternative...in EVERY city and town.

[sundancekid]

92. welcome to Talibafundy America ... when do WE get democracy??

[Emillereid]

93. Welcome to Bushland!

Anyone else reminded of Margaret Atwood's "The Handmaid's Tale?"

[angel823]

97. absolutely

This scares the shit out of me. As an older women trying to get pregnant, you'd think I'd be more sympathetic for the "other" side. Nothing could be further from the truth. As a last resort (if things go as bad as they possibly could), all women should buy a copy of "Taking Charge of Your Fertility" by Toni Weschler, and teach your daughters AND SONS to be fluent in the language and implementation of natural birth control and pregnancy achievement. Like many women my age, I was never taught these lessons. If we end up not having access to prescription birth control, we should at the very least be informed on how to naturally prevent pregnancy (or achieve it!).

[Emillereid]

106. A lot of women have educated themselves -- and know how to do a lot

of basic stuff including how to perform abortions. I can imagine women forming secret 'practices' if abortion is outlawed again. Of course the last time we secretly took charge of our own health issues they burned us as witches. These are truly scary times we live in.

Imagine -- four years ago we thought we were crossing a bridge to the 21ST century -- little did we know that we'd take a detour through the thirteenth century. HELP!

[leesa]

94. They should be forced to sign promissary notes to adopt one child

for every 100 prescriptions they refuse. For once, let chritians put their money where their self-righteous mouths are.

[barb162]

108. no they just put their money in the bank and preach to everyone elseo

[sphincter]

96. Land of the free indeed...

OK, so what's next on the agenda? Outlaw divorce and minimum requirement of 2 children per family?

Other article on the subject:

http://www.prevention.com/article/0,5778,s1-1-93-35-413...

Apologies if the link has been posted before.

[Sara Beverley]

98. How do you like it now? All you "could've" voted for Kerry people?

We will be worse than any country run by the Taliban or Islamic clericks by the end of the Bush regime. Just think what it will take to cleanse the country of these dangerous, intolerant extremists. Have we ever really been a good or great nation. It wasn't too long ago pharmiscists and others were refusing to serve blacks and Jews.

[barb162]

99. I never heard of this. Contraceptives have been in use for about 40

years...can't believe I am reading this. The anti-abortion types say life begins at conception so what's their problem with preventing conception. They want us all to have 20 kids each or something? I just don't believe this

[barb162]

105. and once you have so many kids you can't feed them, they will be

going after you for child abuse.

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

116. Would the fundies rather these women have abortions?

Talk about sexist. Keep 'em barefoot and pregnant.

[MaineDem]

118. Kick

This is terrible!

[partisan to truth]

119. I asked for a contraceptive prescription from my PCP in Syracuse, NY

and was given a look of horror accompanied by admonitions against premarital sex complete with a lecture on the virtuous path of abstinence. The office is run by a married couple who have publicly admitted to running a faith-based practice, with endless reminders posted throughout the building.

(In case you wonder why I go there, it's the only office in my area that's covered by my insurance.)

[tsuki]

129. Find a mail order or internet company.

[RPM]

120. Question for labor lawyers...

is this grounds to deny someone employment?

more importantly, would it survive challenge on the grounds of religious discrimination?

[shay_shay]

122. That's an interesting question...

I'm too far removed from law school and a corp attorney to boot, so I don't know the answer. I do remember learning in family law that the state has the right to intervene if parents refuse to give their kids medical treatment on religious grounds, but that was a "best interest of the child" thing.

I live in the Deep South, and I've heard of such goings on, but, for what it's worth, I've never had any problems at CVS. Go CVS!!!

[Barrett808]

121. So, can lab techs refuse to perform drug tests...? n/t

[belle]

124. Great. I hope the next time one of these fuckheads has to go to the doc..

that they'll refuse to treat them on "moral principles." As in, "My religious/philosophical system says that you don't deserve to live; so, NO, you can't have your heart medicine."

[WCGreen]

128. It is my understanding that Walmart Pharmacies

do not even carry "the pill"....

So there you have it. If Walmart refuses to carry the pill and they are one of the largest distributors of legal drugs, then will the companies just stop making them?

It could happen......

[MaineDem]

130. This just pisses me off more than I can say!

I detest WalMart almost as much as I detest this sickening administration.

[lumberingbear]

141. I'm a retired pharmacist......

I would fill the "Pill" Rx with no problem!!!

But what everyone needs to know is that a Pharmacist has the right to refuse to fill any Rx they want. That's good because we can refuse a Rx with an error that a MD refuses to change. I say just go to a different pharmacy and ask them their policy on filling the "Pill".

In my earlier years I worked in a Catholic Hospital. They didn't fill BC Rx's. But had BC pills on hand for other problems.

Usually if a pharmacy has a pharmacist that won't fill a BC RX, one of the other pharmacists will.

[SemperEadem]

152. The pharmacy needs to make sure to employ 2 pharmacists

on duty at the same time if they hire one who allows his religious convictions to interfer with doing his job. That is religious based discrimination... and the customer should demand that same pharmacy not carry or fill viagra.

If the pharmacist has that 'out', then the pharmacy should be obligated to provide a second pharmacist on duty for those who need the prescription filled.

[1monster]

140. I just called Walmart Pharmacy to ask and YES THEY DO CARRY

Birth Control pills. Walmart has a lot of faults, but let's keep to the facts here, please...

[terip64]

131. I called CVS

on Friday and they said that they fired that pharmacist and that they told all of their pharmacists that this was not okay. I asked them to email me a statement so that I could post it here and they resisted and then after putting me on hold for about 5 minutes they said they would email me something before noon on Friday. I told them that I was boycotting CVS until I heard from them. I still haven't. I am calling them again tomorrow morning. If they send me a confirmation letter I will post it. I recommend we all call and boycott them until they confirm that this woman is gone and that this has been addressed. The number is 866-222-9438. As I said I will call them first thing tomorrow morning and I will post the confirmation letter if they send it to me.

[lawladyprof]

133. This is THE wedge issue if we play it skillfully and I have a plan

And I have a concrete and relatively easy way for ordinary people (DU'ers?) to do just that. No money can be done by ordinary folks from their home computers. Please PM me if interested.

[terip64]

134. What does PM mean?

I am interested

[lawladyprof]

135. It means send a private message--eom

[lawladyprof]

139. Web Site for Anti-Pill article in Prevention Magazine

http://www.prevention.com/article/0,5778,s1-1-93-35-413...

[FatSlob]

142. It is OK. I have no problem with it.

the free market will punish them by costing them business.

[niki]

143. remember the debates -

i'd like to remind everyone that bush stated something along the lines of DC not being involved in doctor-patient relationships. right.
'faith-based medicine' seems to me a contradiction in terms; are we not supposed to have medicine based on facts/science rather than faith?
also, the misnomar-ed 'partial birth abortion' ban signed by this president is THE FIRST TIME IN HISTORY that a president has enacted legislation directly impacting doctor-patient confidentiality. regardless of what one's particular stance on the so called 'PBA' ban is, news like this is clearly indicative of the tenuous thread that Roe is hanging on by and it's terrifying.
see also recent NPR-affiliate based in NC refusing to carry an underwriting statement from a local non-profit org that simply described their work as encompassing 'reproductive rights'; FCC guidelines (links in article below) is VERY vague and subject to interpretation by affiliated. in this case, clearly WUNC was glad to take this org's money until the recent 'election' but is cowering in the post-election climate of fear and giving in to conservative values, and thereby censoring the term 'reproductive rights' (used simply as a description of the work this org does and not as a euphemism for abortion.
given rehnquist's health, appointment of gonzales etc., it's hard to imagine that roe will be upheld with changes made by the furor in the supreme court - scary.

“Semantic dispute sparks discussion for radio station,” an article by Dave Hart which was printed in the Chapel Hill News and the News and Observer. It can be found online at