By Wendy Gittleson Feminist Issues, LGBTQ, VideosApril 12, 2015

Georgia Walmart Pharmacist Refused To Fill Woman’s Medication After Miscarriage (VIDEO)

While we’ve been discussing whether businesses should have the right to discriminate against gay people (they shouldn’t), women have been discriminated against by some medical professionals for quite some time now.

In Georgia, for example, a pharmacist can refuse to sell a woman a drug, even for non-abortive reasons, if the drug might be used for abortive purposes on occasion.

That’s what happened to Brittany Cartrett, who miscarried when she was only around five or six weeks along.

“So we made the decision to not do a D&C and to get a medicine. So he said I’m going to give you this medicine, you’ll take it, and it will help you to pass naturally so that you don’t have to go the more invasive route,” said Brittany Cartrett.

Source: WGXA.TV

However, when the doctor called the prescription in to the Walmart pharmacy, he was told no. No reason was given but the drug, Misoprostol, can also induce abortions.

Walmart is standing behind the pharmacist, Sandip Patel. It’s been Georgia law for 15 years that pharmacists can refuse to fill prescriptions out of personal belief.

Cartrett was able to fill the prescription at another pharmacy but she says many people who have contacted her have had to go to multiple pharmacies.

While some people might not see this as too much of an inconvenience, there are some medical plans that only include one pharmacy or pharmacy chain.

Here’s the video:

Five other states have laws similar to Georgia’s. They include: Arizona, Arkansas, Idaho, Mississippi and South Dakota. The law was designed to let pharmacists specifically opt out of selling birth control or the morning after pill. There is only one state, Illinois, that specifically requires pharmacists to fill all legal prescriptions.

Featured image via video screenshot.

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Wendy Gittleson

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pam95650

Just go to another pharmacy.
- dragontech64
  
  And for those who cannot, because of their insurance plan? Is your advice to them just “Too bad, you shouldn’t have allowed yourself to need medicine”?
  - pam95650
    
    Is that what I said? While Wal-Mart might be more convenient for the customer, there are plenty more places to get a prescription filled. It’s not where the customer gets the meds, it’s “will the insurance cover the cost?” That is the problem, not where.
    Customers shouldn’t be denied meds just because some ass-faced employee cries “against my beliefs.” I would have gone to the management and file a complaint.
    - SolomonTerra
      
      You didn’t answer the question. Again: “For those who cannot, because of their insurance plan?” Some insurance plans won’t cover it if you don’t go to the pharmacy they dictate for you to use. It’s not as simple as all that.
      - pam95650
        
        Then you’ve got crappy insurance if it dictates which pharmacy a person needs to go to. Here in CA, most large grocery stores have their own pharmacy.
      - Pickwick2
        
        You do realize that most people can’t pick and chose which insurance coverage their employer provides, don’t you? I agree, it’s a crappy plan that limits a patient to a sole source, but sometimes that’s all the patient has available to them.
      - DrMJG
        
        You DO realize you stance is based on what is available to YOU. I have lived in areas where Walmart IS the only pharmacy for many, many miles. Keep in mind, what is right for you might not be the right or available solution for others. I want a pharmacist to dispense the drug prescribed OR, if there is a conflict with other medication, call my doctor to double check. They also should inform me of the safe way to take the medication. They are NOT the MD who gets to decide the proper course of action. (And, yes, some people have crappy insurance — such as Walmart employees who can ONLY use Walmart stores to get their scripts filled.) Glad you are fortunate to not have such insurance; but, don’t condemn others who don’t have your luck!
    - D Lemon
      
      There are not always “plenty more places” to fill a prescription. But you are correct, she should have filed a complaint immediately. But as the article points out, both Walmart and Georgia law support the pharmacist. This is reprehensible.
    - dragontech64
      
      edited
    - Sarah Moon
      
      Did you read the article at all? Walmart stood 100% behind their employee.
- Joy
  
  Why should a pharmacist be allowed to decide, based on their own personal beliefs, whether or not to dispense a medication that was prescribed by that patient’s doctor - unless, of course, there could be serious drug interactions? Anything other than that is a reprehensible abuse of position. If the pharmacist has “personal beliefs” that prevents him from doing his job, perhaps he shouldn’t be doing it.
- Gort1
  
  Not the point moron.
  - pam95650
    
    I know very well what the “point” is, moron.
    - SolomonTerra
      
      Obviously not, or you wouldn’t be dodging it. ;-*
    - Gort1
      
      apparently you don’t. she shouldn’t have to go to another pharmacy…his job is to fill prescriptions…not force his opinions on her.
- PunkKitty
  
  It’s not always that easy. In many small towns, Wal Mart has driven all the small businesses out of business. Wal mart may be the only pharmacy within 50 miles. And then the next pharmacy may be another Wal mart.
- Cpt_Justice
  
  Even if that were just so easy for everyone, yes, I’m sure lots of us will not be going to Walmart anymore.
- D Lemon
  
  What if your insurance doesn’t cover another pharmacy? What if you live in small-town rural America, where the next pharmacy is 30+ miles away? Why should a professional pharmacist have any say over what drugs you take?
  - pam95650
    
    Well, excuse me. Here in California, most large grocery stores have pharmacies. I’ve never heard of any insurance company dictating where a prescription can be filled. I know on my insurance, if it’s a maintenance type med (monthly fill), then you must go through mail order.
    - D Lemon
      
      Then you are lucky. Most insurance prescription plans do specify which pharmacies you can use (where they will pay) - yours must be widely accepted. Not all are. Additionally, not every place in America is California. In the small town in Indiana I recently lived, the ONE grocery store in town was old and did not have a pharmacy. There was one large chain pharmacy In town (rhymes with Shmallgreens). You may remember there was a time when a major insurer was refusing to do business with Shmallgreens? Well, the next closest non-Shmallgreens was 30 miles away. That’s great if you have a car, not so great if you don’t. And then you have the problem of indiana being a hellhole populated by Tealiban - this situation described here probably happened a lot.
    - Pickwick2
      
      Just because you’ve never heard of it doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist. I was in such a plan at one point. I could only fill my prescriptions at a Cub Foods pharmacy. It reeked, but the only other option was to go bankrupt filling prescriptions without coverage.
    - DrMJG
      
      You DO know the story is in GA, not CA.
      - pam95650
        
        yes and that’s why I’m glad I live in CA.
- Pickwick2
  
  That isn’t always possible. A lot of prescription insurance coverage is tied to a particular pharmacy chain. And, if you are someone in a rural area, you might have to travel a very long way to get to the next pharmacy that can serve you — with no guarantee that the pharmacist there is anymore accommodating. No way around it, this is a bad law. Pharmacists should not be able to pick and choose.
  - mikerush
    
    But, see, she’s from California. No other reality exists for her. She just can’t accept the fact that Georgia and California aren’t just exactly the same in every way.
dragontech64

Why does the Right and Christians hate women, LGBT and minorities so much?
- Kerri Peek
  
  I wish I knew.
- Joanie Hepsworth
  
  Because we are what is leveling their playing fields. They will kick and scream until they are the minority. Then they’ll whine some more.
  - Darryl Talker
    
    Don’t be so sure. They plan to continue their rule from a minority status by gerrymandering and holding on to state governments. They’re not planning on a day when their voices are balanced by popular election.
    - JamieHaman
      
      Exactly. The gerrymandering ensures they will not be out of power, no matter what.
    - Joanie Hepsworth
      
      I have never had less of a need for state government in my life. Between Rick Scott and Pam Bondi. Florida state government needs to stick to what they can handle like infrastructure and building city’s. State government needs to stop trying to make moral laws. State’s are like whining white men that are becoming minorities. They’re so busy tryibg to micromanage the citizen’s that their city’s are crumbling around them.
- ReaganGirl
  
  What if Sandip Patel isn’t a Republican or a Christian?
  - dragontech64
    
    He talks like one.
  - mikerush
    
    It doesn’t matter what his politics or his religion are. He is a licensed, professional pharmacist as should act like one. Because he, personally, doesn’t like what the drug is used for, then he has every right not to use it. He has NO right to decide if other people should use it.
- JenR
  
  Especially when Christianity teaches to love your neighbor the same as you love yourself. They sure are breaking this rule to the maximum! I wonder if there’s any religion left in the world that hasn’t been hijacked, twisted, then used to get “special rights & treatment?”
  - dragontech64
    
    From what I’ve been subjected to, religion is to CREATE a system of special rights and treatment, so I doubt that any haven’t been “highjacked” for that.
Gort1

Well…..with a name like Patel. …is anyone surprised?
- Donya Danielle
  
  Don’t judge a book by it’s cover. A person’s last name doesn’t mean they are religious.
  - Tikidoc
    
    No, but refusal to fill a valid prescription for this indication is a pretty good indication that they are likely religious. Although I agree that we should not be making assumptions about people based on their surname. Based on their behavior, yes.
  - Gort1
    
    trust me if his last name is Patel…he’s Indian, raised as an Indian with the same archaic, abusive, misogynistic views ….despite being educated in the West…those views don’t change
- Laura Fine
  
  Racists much???
  - Gort1
    
    no but Indians are….
- Kerri Peek
  
  Are you being antiSemitic? Because that’s uncool.
  - Cpt_Justice
    
    I’m willing to bet there’s no way “Sandip Patel” is Jewish
    - Kerri Peek
      
      Patel is a Jewish surname in Germany.
      - D Lemon
        
        Are you sure about that? Patel is a common Indian surname, and a rare French surname; but I can’t find any examples of it as a Jewish or German name.
      - Kerri Peek
        
        When I lived in a Heidelberg suburb called Kafertal Wald for several years, there was a Frum Jewish family living on my street. Their last name was Patel.
        
        Regardless of picking a nit, my point stands. It’s uncool to judge based on a name, ethnicity, religion, race, creed ad infinitum.
      - Kerri Peek
        
        I looked and I found a Paltel which is apparently common. If their name was Paltel then I addressed the gifts I gave to them on holidays etc., incorrectly.
        
        I have lost touch after moving to the states in 2007.
      - Cpt_Justice
        
        Since it’s an Indian name & not German at all, I have to ask where you heard this.
      - Kerri Peek
        
        Ich bin Deutsche , mein Vater ist deutsch. Ich lebte in Germant für mehrere Jahre. Meine Vorfahren waren in Bergen-Belsen Sie bewusst stumpfen Knüppel-Fick getötet.
      - Kerri Peek
        
        Google it. I gave posted it but this site censored my comment.
- Nikki
  
  What? Patel is to India like Smith or Jones is to the US or UK. Tell me what you’ve inferred from Sandip Patel’s name. Because all I’ve inferred is that he is likely of Indian descent. And it may surprise you to realize that Indians are as diverse in their views as any other race or nationality.
  - Kerri Peek
    
    Google German Jewish surnames, you will find Paltel and Pätel. They’re there.
  - Gort1
    
    yes we’ve seen how “diverse” Indians are….NOT
Mardi Gras

Out of one side of the mouth, Republicans say they believe in smaller government and personal responsibility …. Out of the other side of the mouth, they pass laws that impinge on our rights as human beings and take responsibility away from us. Madness indeed!
- Dot
  
  Exactly.
- TheRealSocialmedic
  
  Republicans lie, but there is one thing I can nevr catch them doing - telling the truth.
  - sixxPENCE
    
    All politicians lie!
    - Jacob Lively
      
      Yes, but Republicans are more dependable.
      
      You can always trust them to lie.
      - sixxPENCE
        
        Rofl
- Hugh Everett
  
  The rights of the pharmacist are as important as the rights of the patient. That’s the way the Constitution works. I’m pro-choice, but I respect everyone’s rights.
  - jonquilofmars
    
    The job of the pharmacist is to fill prescriptions of a medical professional that were given to their patient. Their job is not to make moral judgements based on their religion and decide to not do their job on a piecemeal basis. The Constitution does work, and there are people who are misusing the First Amendment deliberately to enforce their religion on others. To the the rights of others are subject to their whims.
  - Neller6557
    
    One persons rights shouldn’t impinge on another’s health and safety. The rights of the woman to have a safe procedure to help her through her health crisis should outweigh the other persons need to freely practice their religious beliefs. What about birth control not being sold to women with issues where this drug is affective . ? It is the pharmacists job to fill the doctors orders.. Not the other way around . A doctors orders should not be ignored by a pharmacists unless there is evidence of malpractice or fraud.
    
    These kinds of stupid and immoral actions have a tendency to proliferate if others think they can get away with it. They need to be stopped before someone’s life is threatened because proper medical care is withheld. This is inevitable.
    - DrMJG
      
      There are state now that are planning on outlawing D&C as an option with no exception for miscarraiges. So, what then. In most states that have the “against my religion” provisions for pharmacies, they are to have either an in-house option OR provide a direct link to a place where they can get the script filled. Obviously GA does not care.
      - Neller6557
        
        If that had been in affect in my state I would be dead. .. Truth
  - http://diashoni.tumblr.com DiaShoni
    
    The rights of the pharmacist do not include interfering with patient medical care.
  - Darrell L. Sisson
    
    Religion is supposed to guide YOUR life, not someone else’s.
    - Pickwick2
      
      Oh, well put!
  - Glenna Jones-Kachtik
    
    Sorry. If the pharmacist doesn’t believe in abortion - then they can picket planned parenthood, they can stand in a “human chain” around an abortion clinic. They can write letters to the Editor or op ed pieces. They can speak about it at their churches. Those ARE rights protected by the constitution & the way the constitution works. BUT they ARE a pharmacist. A pharmacist is supposed to fill prescriptions called in by doctors for their patients….period. If they aren’t sure about it, they can call the doctor for clarification. If they think it will interact with another drug the patient takes they again, are free to call the doctor. Otherwise they are SUPPOSED to fill those scripts without comment & the techs or whomever they are behind the counter are supposed to sell the meds to the customers who come for it. If they feel uncomfortable shoving the pills into the bottle, they are free to ask another pharmacist in the pharmacy to do so. If they feel uncomfortable selling the drug, then they are free to let the customer know that the medicine will be available at a time when a pharmacist without the “qualms’ is there to sell it - BUT should never say why. What is a woman supposed to do if WalMart is the only pharmacy on her insurance & her town only has 1 WalMart? What should she do in a small city without a lot of drug stores? It is not the job of the pharmacist to pass judgment on women. So, NO. If you think that you might be against the selling of certain drugs - DO NOT BECOME A PHARMACIST.
  - John Kessler
    
    If I can’t do the job I’m hired to do, either because I’m incompetent or because I chose not to do it, I should be fired. Same goes for any employee. The job of a pharmacist is to dispense medications a patient’s physician deems needed to treat illness.
  - Ellis8118
    
    Then get a job sucking s*** out of port-a-potties. Problem solved. Why is this so difficult to understand? Just do the damn job you were hired to do.
  - Pickwick2
    
    So, you’d be OK with someone getting a medical degree, taking a job at a hospital, and then refusing to practice because they sincerely believe in faith healing? I know, that taken to an extreme, but it is what you’re advocating. If someone trains as a pharmacist and takes a job as a pharmacist, they should act like a pharmacist. If their beliefs get in the way of that, they should seek another profession.
    - JamieHaman
      
      That’s exactly right. Can’t dispense legally prescribed medicine? Get out of the pharmacy.
      It’s infuriating that this pharmacist is imposing HIS religious beliefs on Walmart’s customers.
  - Joy
    
    The rights of the pharmacist should not override the rights of the patient to get any medication that was prescribed by their doctor. I can understand it if there could be a drug interaction, but for someone to be able to “morally object” to filling a prescription is beyond the pale. Protip: don’t be a pharmacist if dispensing a medication offends you.
    - JenR
      
      I can’t remember the last time a pharmacist told me about interactions with a med, or even asking if I had any questions! You’re lucky if they say hello! But they’re awfully loud about their “religious beliefs!” Way more than caring for that person who needs a med for something. Something very wrong with this picture.
  - Trololo_lololo
    
    So following your twisted logic, as a firefighter I’d have a right not to save you or your family if your situation was against my deeply held religious beliefs… because after all… my rights are just as important…
  - GonzoG
    
    NO! Medical Professionals SHOULD BE required by law to render assistance to ANYONE in medical need. In this case, without the required medications or other medical intervention, the woman risked infection and death.
    
    And it would have been 100% the fault of the medical professionals who denied care.
  - catalinda8
    
    If you can’t service your customers, then you shouldn’t be in that business. It’s not up to the pharmacist to override a physician’s decision.
  - Newzheimer
    
    The pharmacist does not have the right to impose his personal, religious views on someone else. His job is to dispense legally obtained medications, not pontificate on another person’s moral choices.
  - Adriana Pena
    
    Except that for a pharmacist to override a doctor’s prescription means that she thinks she knows better than the doctor. She doesn’t. She should be charged with practicing medicine without a license.
    Doctors prescribe medicine accoding to their diagnosis and expected outcome. The pharmacists carried out no tests, did not make any diagnosis, and had no idea what the expected outcome. She just use her religion to say that her ignorance was as good as the doctor;s knowledge.
    People like her create atheists wherever they go.
    - JenR
      
      Oh, they’re using the “doctorate ” part of their degree to claim they are DOCTORS! Surprised there’s not one touting that in this discussion. An engineer also has a doctorate degree, but is no more a Doctor than a pharmacist.
  - http://www.yoelsrryard.edu/ Joel Lawler
    
    That’s absolutely NOT the way the Constitution works. The Constitution does not in any way allow one to force one’s religious beliefs on anyone else.
  - Joan Cichon
    
    If I’m a vegetarian, do I have the right to refuse to serve meat at a restaurant I serve at? No. The pharmacist has the right to choose a different job. She doesn’t have the right to not fill a prescription. ..that’s her job
    .
  - Terri Weiss
    
    Yes he has a right to get another job NOT serving the public if he can’t manage to do this one properly.
  - Vikings53
    
    But this is a medical issue. NOT a religious or moral one.
- ReaganGirl
  
  Just wondering how you know for sure that Sandip Patel is a Republican?
  - Susan Ava
    
    Their referring to the religiously biased legislation that makes his actions legal, not the phamacist. But I’m sure u know that, u troll.
    - silkalivedoll
      
      On the other hand, it wouldn’t be THAT surprising, would it?
  - Todd Ringling
    
    what are the odds that he isn’t?
Jane Renken

As a Walmart associate this disturbs me very much. If we have walmart insurance we have to use Walmart pharmacies. If I was in this situation I would be calling 1-800-Walmart and filing a complaint with home office.
- Cpt_Justice
  
  You have all my sympathies.
  - wildwilly1111
    
    On so many levels…
Scott Amundsen

Smaller government? Oh wait, that only holds true for white heterosexual males. Republicans want the right to stick their long snotty noses into the vagina of every pregnant woman that seeks medical treatment, and they want to monitor what LGBT persons do not only in the bedroom with the door locked, but our rights to equality in everything from the workplace to the marriage office.

I am so sick of these hypocrites. That pharmacist had no good reason to withhold Misoprostil in this situation because THE MISCARRIAGE HAD ALREADY HAPPENED. Walmart Fails Yet Again.
cs

Pigs. Period.
Ventress Dugan

I DO NOT shop at Walmart, have not in 30 years. Disgusting people own this store.
Joanie Hepsworth

Does the drug have any other use?
- Cpt_Justice
  
  All drugs can be misused, this is a lame justification. The drug was PRESCRIBED BY A DOCTOR, PERIOD, END OF.
- kissyface
  
  yes
- D Lemon
  
  What difference does that make? Since when is the pharmacist the proper-prescription-use police?
- Tikidoc
  
  There are two drugs that are used for first trimester abortion, and they are used in combination. RU486 is taken first, then misoprostil (trade name Cytotec). To my knowledge, pregnancy termination (or completion of a spontaneous miscarriage, as in this case) is the only use. Misoprostil is used for a number of things. It was initially used for treatment/prevention of gastric ulcers. It is used in obstetrics for labor induction, preparing the cervix for labor, pregnancy terminations, and as a life-saving treatment for postpartum hemorrhage.
  
  This woman’s embryo had died. She had the options of waiting for her body to complete the miscarriage (which most women do not want to do), D&C, or use of medication to complete the miscarriage. The pregnancy was nonviable (not that this is the business of the pharmacist anyway). She elected the medical treatment, which is fast, safe, and non-invasive. The pharmacist seemed to think that taking away this option for her was within his rights.
  - Joanie Hepsworth
    
    We still live with cavemen. Of all the people they choose to shame. Neanderthal’s.
Cpt_Justice

Guess I will have to picket our Walmart…
- JamieHaman
  
  Picket the people who passed the laws allowing this travesty of conscience, then vote them out instead.
  - Nita
    
    Better yet, remember who voted that way and vote them out of office during the next election.
  - Cpt_Justice
    
    No, not “instead”, “in addition to” (But thank you for the reminder)
D Lemon

I am so sick of the American Tealiban, destroying our country.
- ReaganGirl
  
  Are you absolutely positive that Sandip Patel is a Christian and Tea party member?
  - Christopher Stockslager
    
    yes. look her up dumbass. her voting info is publicly available (at least donations and registeration are..)
  - mikerush
    
    It was “christians” and “teabaggers” who got the reprehensible laws passed. So, D Lemon is accurate in his statement.
  - Nikki
    
    It doesn’t matter if Sandip Patel is a Christian or a Republican. The problem is the POLICIES put into place to allow Sandip Patel to pull this incredibly misogynistic stunt. Those policies are a result of Christian Republicans. Get it?
  - D Lemon
    
    No, but I am absolutely certain that the laws making it legal for Patel to refuse to dispense a legal prescription were written by Christians and/or Tea Partiers.
  - Todd Ringling
    
    if it walks like a duck, quacks like a duck, and flaps like a duck… it probably is a duck.
Heather Sams

If your religious beliefs prevent you from doing your JOB, you’re working in the wrong field.
Shoryo Tombo

Over a fictitious BS??? GROW UP PEOPLE! Who cares what you believe! These Xtian Talibans need to go!
TheRealSocialmedic

And we decline your liscense to sell guns because that would make you implicit in murder.
DannyEastVillage

among other problems with this, it sounds like the pharmacist is practicing medicine without a license.
JamieHaman

Pharmacist Patel should be the one to pay the price for his ‘conscience.’ Get out of the field if you refuse to provide the appropriate medicine that has been legally prescribed.

Making others pay that price is imposing your will on others, and dangerous at it’s worse.
- Adriana Pena
  
  Bring him to the board of medical ethics on the grounds of he is practicing medicine without a license
disqus_a3cEEbCswW

yeah well as a soldier I’ve decided I don’t want to fight the enemy in this area because there are too many children I believe they might get hurt So the hostages that they’re holding are going to have to wait until I believe it’s safe for everyone. Because until then it goes against my personal beliefs…that’s okay right sergeant?
Matt Kovach

stupid southerners
- Jason Kelly
  
  It’s not a southern thing, Illinois is the only state that requires pharmacists to fill all legal prescription.
Sakonya1

Ridiculous laws that only Repugs pass! Stop voting for them! Its real simple!
Echo Moon

no one should have the ‘right’ to interfere between a physician and their patient, unless that patient’s quality of life or their actual life would be threatened or endangered..

when someone whose personal feelings or religious beliefs intervenes and interferes with another medical care? and they refuse to give medical aid in what could be a mental, emotional or life threatening situation or condition because of their personal or religious beliefs? they should have their license revoked and legally charged.
Elizabeth Chubbuck

So based on that law, if it really is about “personal beliefs” , I should not allow heart meds to a heavy person because I believe in personal responsibility and if you are fat, too bad??? How about they need meds until they lose weight? Though most who need lipids are not even heavy, its just their body makes more cholesterol. But I will judge by what I see and not the facts, like this idiot pharmacist? They are NOT doctors, how could any such law pass?
http://jdurward.blogspot.com jessied44

No Republican can resist the urge to climb in a woman’s vagina and tell her what to do with it.
Kim Serrahn

And so it begins.
calm dog

Here are the pharmacist’s rights: He has the right to go into a profession that won’t force him to violate whatever values he chooses to have. Pharmacists have an obligation to fill prescriptions. If that’s a problem for him, he should have a different job. I can’t be a police officer and object to carrying a gun. It’s part of the job.
Enfant Terrible

Fill that prescription for a legal medication written by a licensed physician or find another line of work. It’s that simple.
al

I am a nurse. The day i can no longer put my patient’s needs above my own, I shall become a pharmacist.
Ann Nason

Woohoo! Illinois has done something right!! As for the rest…disgusting that these so called Christians have the right to put their beliefs over the rights of others.
dezaad

Does a Hindu employee get to refuse to serve burgers while working for McDonalds?
swellswell

What business is it of the pharmacist’s why the medication is being used? The pharmacist’s job is to dispense medication. The pharmacist shouldn’t be trying to figure out why or how the medication will be or might be used. If I were this woman, I’d sue - after all, the medication wasn’t being used for an abortion so the pharmacist had no right to interfere in her care (and even if it was, he was out of line, despite the law).
GonzoG

A medical professional who denies a patient needed medical services because of said “professional’s” religious beliefs should PERMANENTLY lose his/her license to practice in ANY STATE of the UNION. (Yeah-leave the country if you and get a license there, we don’t need you!) If the patient dies because of this, the medical professional should face charges of criminal neglect and negligent homicide.
Cheyenne

Fire the employee immediately and yank her license. No pharmacist has a right to refuse to dispense any medication prescribed by a doctor.
Paul Duca

Patel must think the Republicans will let him be CEO of a drug store chain or a Walmart executive…
Jack Engle

Another reason for me to continue to boycott Wal-Mart
Neil Clark

…perhaps one day this pharmacist will end up in the ER needing a blood transfusion…and her nurse will refuse to perform the doctor’s order on “personal religious grounds”…
akheretic

Oh how I hate Walmart!!!!!
http://www.realdoll.com/ Edie the Egg Lady

There is NO PLACE for religion in the marketplace end of discussion. Religion is irrelevant in the decisions of others.
Kathy Morgan

Then tell men to keep their penises to themselves…Don’t touch us women…that should take care of laws like this.
Michael Lockard

I have huge issues with this pharmacist who refuses to fill a valid prescription from a medical doctor by substituting the decision making ability of the pharmacist over that of the patients personal licensed physician.

Disclosure: Part of what drives this conversation is the huge argument and disagreement I have been having with CVS based on a policy they have ONLY in Indiana. I was told (personally) that this policy is only for Indiana, not a single other state has the same policy. I have currently spoke with the Indiana Professional Licensing Board, the Indiana Attorney General, and the DEA on what CVS is doing, and the future of the Indiana only CVS issue is headed for some huge problems for CVS.

Yes, pharmacists provide a huge benefit by assuring that none of your prescriptions (if you take more than one) will interact or cause problems with whatever your personal prescriptions are. I have no problem with pharmacists who refuse to refill prescriptions earlier than the normal refill date to avoid patients abusing or taking too much medication quicker than proper (such as narcotics and pain medications). I have no problem with pharmacists who work to assure that a patient is not “pharmacy shopping” to get more prescriptions filled than they should (again, I am primarily referring to narcotics and pain medications).

But allowing a pharmacist to provide an unwelcome, unnecessary, and not needed personal belief into the filling of a prescribed medication is (IMHO) ethically and morally challenged ability. The doctor/patient relationship is one of the most sacred professional relationships we have (surpassed in my mind only by the pastor/parishioner relationship). A valid medication prescription should never be refused based on a personal belief system of the pharmacist.

According to the American Pharmacists Association (APhA) and their Code of Ethics, a pharmacist

1: Respects the contractual relationship between the patient and pharmacist.

2: Promotes the good of every patient in a caring, compassionate, and confidential manner.

3: Respects the autonomy and dignity of each patient.

4: Acts with honesty and integrity in professional relationships.

5: Maintains professional competence.

6: Respects the values and abilities of colleagues and other health professionals.

7: Serves individual, community, and societal needs.

8: Seeks justice in the distribution of health resources.

And the APhA even provides guidance and further explanation on each of the Code of Ethics topics, and in #3 it states that a pharmacist “”promotes the right of self-determination”, and for #4 it provides that a pharmacist “avoids discriminatory practices, behavior or work conditions that impair professional judgment, and actions that compromise dedication to the best interests of patients”,” which is sure as heck NOT the case in the Wal-Mart article, IMHO

And I want to be crystal clear that in the situation provided in the enclosed article this is NOT a situation where the patient is requesting Misoprostol as a “morning after pill” to induce an abortion. That is a LONG debate for another time and another place. In this instance the patient was already in the midst of a huge personal tragedy because she had a miscarriage due to the death of the baby inside her womb. I think we can all agree that any mother would be devastated being told by her OB/GYN that the 5-week old child inside her had passed away, and that she only had two choices: an invasive “dilation and curettage” procedure which would surgically remove the contents of the uterus, or a pill that would have the same effect but would be less invasive. The young mother chose the second option.

As stated by the young mother enduring this personal tragedy “They WON’T fill it. Not that they CAN’T. But they WON’T”, and also being told by the on-duty pharmacist that their “reason” for not filling the prescription was “Because (Wal-Mart) couldn’t think of a reason why you would need that prescription.” The poor young lady told them ( as well she should have) that “it’s not (their) job to know what I need or don’t need. It’s (their) job to fill a prescription. The job of knowing what I need or don’t need is between my doctor and myself. I shouldn’t have to come up here and explain myself or why I need any kind of medication.” I have to agree with her 100%, and based on the stupidity I am enduring from CVS, I am kinda on my soapbox right now over pharmacies (CVS) or pharmacists (current story) just making up their own rules as they go. On top of that, for both scenarios, each corporation does not even have the guts to post their so-called “policy”. You get to find out at your time and expense after you show up to get YOUR medication, which is rightfully yours under all principles and precepts and ethics and morality under the sun, but instead a corporation has stated that THEY know better than YOUR personal physician, but that THEIR decision is a secret, since the decision is not posted in the store or on their website that THEY have decided certain ambiguous and asinine rules about YOUR medications.

I’m actually pretty pissed off over this. Is this another one of those fallout rules from the Citizens v. United case, now that our illustrious Supreme Court thinks that “corporations are people”. Or is it the result of some village idiot hiding behind an Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) type law in their region and state.

I have the utmost respect for the skill, training, and dedication that is required to be a pharmacist. I get it, you are a member of a long-standing and proud group of people who are involved in healthcare and providing medical care and treatment for people. But when a person like the one at this Wal-Mart starts substituting a PERSONAL belief and abdicating their PROFESSIONAL responsibilities, they have stepped over a line as a healthcare provider,

Ethics are not optional in medicine, they are an essential and integral part of health care. First of all, by substituting a personal belief instead of the ethics of their profession as a pharmacist, the Wal-Mart pharmacist (and the company that backed the decision) has failed to fulfill their duty to the patient. They have failed and disrespected their duties to colleagues and other members of the pharmacy profession, and instead of maintaining the aspects of being a professional in healthcare and upholding and maintaining the dignity and respect of the profession and striving to maintain a reputation of honesty, integrity and reliability, they instead invited ridicule due to the indefensible position they are in by inserting subjective personal beliefs in place of objective professional obligations. They substituted individual beliefs over scientific fact. Pharmacies and pharmacists are like many in healthcare, whereby once trained they are sent out into the community to benefit others by their knowledge. As practitioners of an autonomous profession, there is the obligation and responsibility to contribute from their sphere of professional healthcare competence to the general well being of the community. That could not happen at this Wal-Mart since they clearly started “making it up as they go” as evidenced in this story.

What happened to this young mother at a time where she was vulnerable, emotional, and in need of compassion, care, and assistance, instead this Wal-Mart pharmacy utterly deserted her by failing to maintain and promote standards of excellence in performing and advancing the art and science of the pharmacy profession, and their “efforts” to even remotely preserve the dignity and privacy of the patient were sadly and laughably futile. It is not lightly that I opine that they utterly botched their professional obligation to uphold and maintain the dignity and respect of patients who need assistance from pharmacists and the pharmacy profession, and their efforts did absolutely nothing to contribute to the general well being of either the local or overall medical community.

Ethics are not optional in medicine, they are an essential and integral part of health care. The insertion of some sort of nebulous and subjective “internal code” has no place in the provision of care for a patient, and it is especially appalling when a member of the healthcare profession neglects their duty to all patients by forgetting that all patients deserve the highest application of honesty, courtesy and integrity, and a member of the healthcare profession should recognize the standards demanded of them, not in passive observance, but as a set of dynamic principles guiding their conduct and way of life. It is the duty of healthcare professionals to abide by an ethical code that recognizes the needs of the patient should always be first and foremost in the minds of the provider.

There is absolutely no place for a personal bias or intolerance when you are part of the healthcare delivery system. If you cannot put your internal prejudices and impartialities out of the way and treat and provide care for all patients equally, then you need to get out of healthcare. Patients always deserve that the person caring for them will treat them equally and without reservation. If you cannot do that, then do a favor to the rest of the medical profession and the countless number of medical professionals who are “loud and proud” that they always provide quality care of the highest standards for each and every patient, and just walk away. You may think you are providing care for patients, but your actions are a twisted insult that stains the reputation and upstanding character of the rest of the medical community, and your callous disregard for the humanity of others actually makes me sick.
- Mitch Valburg
  
  “by substituting a personal belief instead of the ethics of their profession as a pharmacist, the Wal-Mart pharmacist (and the company that backed the decision) has failed to fulfill their duty to the patient. ”
  
  The pharmacist has also quite likely endangered his license. Licensing boards take ethics violations quite seriously.
Trixie

It would appear that women have no voice, no rights, no privacy.
gme11

The problem is the Catholic men on the Supreme Court who let their own personal religion and desire rule their decisions. They are the ones who are letting religion slip into our mainstream and dictate what we all do. They have proven themselves to be partisan and willing to ignore the Constitution. People need to take this very seriously in the next presidential election, because that president will definitely be choosing some new justices. If you want to see our country turn into a religious Taliban, vote republican.
Melinda Killie

THIS is just ANOTHER example of states like Georgia and Mississippi ‘attempting’ to keep folks under discrimination and under thumb. DISGUSTING…
rodgerfox1

What your saying has been said about black people eating at a diner
before, and the law sided with the business not being able to
discriminate, this extends to religious and personal beliefs that something is immoral but without
it being dangerous to the business or employe, or illegal then they have
to serve the person, including when that person is getting medication
the pharmacists thinks are immoral.
- Hugh Everett
  
  As we saw in the Hobby Lobby ruling, religious people have First Amendment rights that prevent them from being forced to violate their convictions. So a religious person may not be compelled to dispense abortifacients or bake a cake for a gay wedding.
rodgerfox1

You can’t discriminate like that, what if that had been the only pharmacy in town and she couldn’t have? What if someone finds moral reasons to not serve a black person in a diner, can they refuse because they think it’s immoral for blacks and whites to eat at the same place? How about if someone was to deny you service because your an inrallarent bigiot hideing behind morals?
rodgerfox1

Yes, if the scripts are legit then they shouldn’t be able to not fulfill them because they suspect the people getting them are going to sell them. As for interactions, they should be obligated to call the doctor and let them know a mistake has been made and then let the doctor decide if the risk is worth it or not, not the pharmacist that doesn’t know the whole story..
- JenR
  
  The whole “Dr shopping ” thing has pretty much been nipped in the bud, so to say, with RX databases, drug tests at Doc office, etc. So that “narcotic RX” is more likely to be legit than ever.
Clint Henry Utiripse

Dont force your outdated mythologies on others to believe
rivardau

“pill mills”???
The point is, that WalMart stocked the drug in question, and bought it from a reputable source.

Other pharmacists at that WalMart, and at WalMart’s across the country, have the product on their shelf and can grab it to have a tech put it into bottles and have the cashier sell it.

This is not hard, and one pharmacist during their own shift should NOT be making arbitrary religious reasons for not filling a prescription, when it is there and sold by the employer.

Don’t like it? Then the PHARMACIST needs to find a different job — it is not the burden of the customer to have to come during the 2nd shift to avoid that pharmacist, or to traipse to another store.
Mo Dane

All pharmacists across the country should be required to fill out all legal scripts.