Re: Contraceptive access
From: Anna Meenan, MD (annam@uic.edu)
Thu Apr 21 07:42:39 2005
Even in a one-pharmacy community (which is currently where I practice),
there is always http://www.drugstore.com, and pretty much everyone has internet
access now, either at home or through their local library. So, if the
single pharmacy in town is owned by one Catholic pharmacist, who because
of the shortage of pharmacists, can only find a Catholic pharmacist to
assist him/her, is there a restriction on how far away the pharmacist
can send the patient to another pharmacy, or can s/he refer them to the
internet?
--
Anna Meenan, MD
At Wed, 20 Apr 2005, Joanne Bulley, MD wrote:
>
>Like you I have no problem with a pharmacist not dispensing or stocking
>whatever med in such situations -- unless -- that is THE ONLY place in
>town -- then there is some sort of obligation to the community to
>dispense what the doc and patient have decided upon (well yes I can
>think of exceptions to even that) ...
>
>The bill includes just that -- if you don't / won't stock or do it --
>send someone elswhere. The probelm being that there have been
>pharmacists who have KEPT the prescription and harrassed the woman with
>the prescription about having the script in the first place.
>
>>The rule also forces pharmacies that do not stock the requested pills,
>>including emergency contraception, to order them or refer the patient to
>>a nearby pharmacy. Gov. Blagojevich enacted the rule April 1 after two
>>Chicago pharmacists refused to fill prescriptions for emergency
>>contraceptives.
>
>Joanne
>
>At Tue, 19 Apr 2005, Anna Meenan, MD wrote:
>>
>>I have no problem with a pharmacist who is not comfortable dispensing
>>OCP's, as long as s/he gives the prescription back to the patient and
>>refers her to another pharmacy if s/he is not comfortable filling it.
>>Our nearest pharmacy stopped stocking Accutane, probably because of
>>paperwork and liability concerns, and I had to drive across town to get
>>it for my son. I wouldn't dream of trying to force a store to stock a
>>specific product. We live in a free enterprise society. Can the
>>Federal government compel a pharmacist to commit what his religion
>>classifies as a sin? I would hope not. The State of Illinois (in the
>>guise of the U of I) sends me a list every year of every religious
>>holiday celebrated by every religion on the planet, and directs me not
>>to schedule any major exams on those days, or to compel students to come
>>to class on those days (I think the list leaves me 2 or 3 days to
>>schedule that stuff). So the State of Illinois cannot compel a Catholic
>>student to show up in class on, oh let's say the Feast of the
>>Assumption, but can compel a Catholic pharmacist to dispense OCP's.
>>Where exactly are we separating Church and State?
>>
>>--
>> Anna Meenan, MD
>>
>--
>Joanne Bulley, MD
>Keene, NH, USA
>
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