On the latest issue of Pharmacists with a Conscience

[weaktwos]

What's all this bull I'm hearing about a growing number of "pro-life" pharmacists not dispensing birth control due to their beliefs?

Yet another indication that religion is spinning out of control in this country.

If you want to become a public defense lawyer, and yet you despise the notion of defending someone who might be guilty, you best not become a defense attorney.

If you want to become a plumber, but you hate being knee deep in disgusting refuse, you best not become a plumber.

If you are a fast food employee, but you hate making fast food, you shouldn't be in that job.

Plain and simple. The job you do will invariably come into conflict with your personal beliefs in some fashion. And if you find that objectionable, you need to find employment elsewhere.

A pharmacist's job is not to place judgment on the drugs being dispensed. The doctor takes care of that. You fill the order, and you dispense it.

I don't understand why this has to be so complicated, except you've got people who went into the wrong job.

Comments

[tunskit.livejournal.com]

You know, it occurred to me that by this reasoning, these pro-life pharmacists should be refusing to fill any category D or X drug for women of childbearing age, since those drugs have high potential or known risk for causing birth defects and/or fetal mortality. If they're going to object on the basis of protecting a potential human life, why not go all out? *eye roll* I tell ya', religion is a dangerous thing, especially in the wrong hands.

[lavenderjones.livejournal.com]

Unfortunately for a great majority of the planet, religion IS in the wrong hands. *sigh* What a lovely Icon!

[lavenderjones.livejournal.com]

Annie, Annie, Annie.... you are SO correct. It's such a sad and frightening state of affairs, and I fear for the rights of the US citizens - women in particular - are going by the wayside, and until someone makes some radical changes in the administration, things are going to keep swan diving. *sigh*

[weaktwos.livejournal.com]

Indeed. *Shakes head*

[pacalissanctum.livejournal.com]

Posted a link in my journal about where you can go to voice concerns to the pharmacies.

I've also posted about this previously, especially after the case and Eckerd's pharmacist in Denton decided to take it upon himself to not prescribe emergency contraceptive to a rape victim (luckily the Walgreen's across the street had no qualms). A case in Wisconsin involved a Kmart pharmacist refusing to fill a prescription for a married woman to get birth control, but then he also refused to give her prescription back so she could get it filled elsewhere.

This chaps my hide. It would be different if they were working for say, a religious based pharmacy, like a Catholic hospital affiliated one, but if they're working for a public one and they aren't a doctor, they need to do their job.

[pacalissanctum.livejournal.com]

Makes me wonder, too, if all the men that come in with Viagra or Cialis prescriptions get asked if they are in married, monogamous relationships and only need the drugs so they can get ready to procreate before their scrips are filled.

[hangedwoman.livejournal.com]

Have you heard about Illinois' governor issuing an emergency order that pharacists must fill all prescriptions?

[libidoergosum.livejournal.com]

you KNOW they don't!! I think all this mass marketing of penis drugs is a bad idea. I could probably go on for days about it, but that's counterproductive.


In terms of the pharmacist, I'm surprised the two women didn't physically assault him and demand the drugs in exchange for his life. If I were one of those two, that probably owuld have been my M/O.

[pacalissanctum.livejournal.com]

One of the pharmacists in one of these cases in Texas is a woman. :/ That makes me even more sad, for some reason.

[libidoergosum.livejournal.com]

that's just fucked up... that's so FUBAR'ed that it makes my brain hurt.

[pacalissanctum.livejournal.com]

Luckily, the pharmacy association here actually does not state that a pharmacist can object on moral grounds, only if there is danger of interaction/overdose with heavy narcotics or other drugs (so, basically, for medical cause not 'moral' ones).

[libidoergosum.livejournal.com]

those are legitimate concerns. I'm fortunate enough to be on an Army Post, pharmacists have to play by DoD rules. :)

[pacalissanctum.livejournal.com]

It aggravates me, esp. since I've been on some form of hormonal birth control since I was 15 (nearly 1/2 my life) because of other issues. No pharmacist needs to know why I take something and pass judgement. It was so much easier when I was a military dependent...they just filled and handed over. Alas, I grew up and lost my eligibility.

[libidoergosum.livejournal.com]

that truly blows.

[pacalissanctum.livejournal.com]

Yeah, and what's scary is that if some have their way, I'd not be allowed to have it, even though it's much more pleasant for everyone involved that I be on it. Pretty sad I was on it nearly 8 full years before I actually had the sex.

Although, I am going to try giving myself a hormone free period of time in my life and am taking myself off bc. It can't be good to continuously be on them for 15 years, so I think it might be time to try a break. I'm hoping that I won't kill too many people...

[libidoergosum.livejournal.com]

do keep a public tally of the body count. I'll see how it compares to mine while I'm on deployment.

[pacalissanctum.livejournal.com]

Deal. :)

[weaktwos.livejournal.com]

Yes. :-)

[weaktwos.livejournal.com]

I think I would create a religion on the spot that says it's against my religion to let Pharmacists who fail to fill prescriptions live. After all, if Congress can pass a law for one person, I can create a religion that reviles one type of one job function.

[mydivineshadow.livejournal.com]

If you want to become a public defense lawyer, and yet you despise the notion of defending someone who might be guilty, you best not become a defense attorney.

If you want to become a plumber, but you hate being knee deep in disgusting refuse, you best not become a plumber.

If you are a fast food employee, but you hate making fast food, you shouldn't be in that job.

Horrible analogy. In the examples you listed, the task that the person doesn't want to perform is so general that it encompasses the whole job. It's like comparing someone who wants to be an elementary school teacher but hates little kids to a video game programmer who won't do sports games. You can't be an elementrary school teacher and not work with little kids because it's inherent in the definition of the job. Being a video game programmer doesn't mean you have to program every type of game there is. Similarly, being a pharmacist doesn't mean one has to sell every type of drug there is. What if they want to specialize and run a company that only serves the diabetic community, for example?

If they're in private practice, pharmacists should be allowed to refuse to dispence medication for any reason, just as physicians should be allowed to refuse performing certain procedures on anyone for any reason.

My general practitioner needs no justification for telling me to cease being a patient of his.

[weaktwos.livejournal.com]

No, in all cases, it does not encompass the whole job. There's more to the fast food industry than cooking it. There's more to plumbing than always being knee-deep in sludge. And sure, if all a certain Pharmacy does is dole out diabetes meds, that's fine. But for someone like a Pharmacist, whose job it is to dispense medication no matter what is, it is wrong. The process is: you go to your doctor. Your doctor approves a prescription, the Pharmacy fills it out. In some cases, a person may be given birth control for hormonal regulation. It's none of that Pharmacist's business, however, why a person has a prescription they do, they just fill it.

[dangermouse74.livejournal.com]

it isn't complicated actually. the simple problem is religion is afforded extra special protection, meaning it can supercede other rules of the workplace or anywhere else. hence you can even use such places as venues to push your religion as it is a "right" you have that is then protected against.

[dangermouse74.livejournal.com]

not to mention (which i apologize if you infered it below) that if the pharmacist refuses, that is nto the same as if the drug store refused. it woudl be different as well if say he owned the store. thoguh that would still suck IMO.