American Christian Pharmacist denies meds because religion

I just think it's incredible that in 2012 in America we still have Christian extremists not accepting
our great modern world.

I heard there is a growing number of pharmacists in the U.S who want the right to refuse to fill prescriptions for birth control pills.

ALBUQUERQUE (KRQE) - An Albuquerque woman claims she was denied her birth control pills because of her pharmacist's religious beliefs.

Susanne Koestner said she called the Walgreens pharmacy located at Central Ave. and Eubank Blvd. on June 10 to get her prescription refilled. But Koestner said she was told to come back the next day and get her medication when another pharmacist was on duty.

"It's really between my husband and I, and our family planning choices, and my doctor," said Koestner. "It's really strange to have a stranger judge me. I see it as a privacy issue."

Link

reply to post by samsamm9


I think that if a pharmacist told me that, I'd go to Rite-Aid or whatever.
Hit 'em where it hurts.

reply to post by SangriaRed


Apparently they are allowed to refuse to fill any prescriptions that goes against their belief.

Originally posted by samsamm9
reply to post by SangriaRed

 

Apparently they are allowed to refuse to fill any prescriptions that goes against their belief.

As an incredulous outsider, is that really so? That sounds extremely FUBAR where medical treatment is concerned.

"Hmm...penicillin...let's see...is that kosher?"

I hope you are wrong in your statement.

ETA Absolutely no "Jew Hate!" implied or expressed. In British English, Kosher is a word that also means legit, reliable, honest, on the ball....yada yada ad infinitum. Just to be clear.



Personal disclosure, I reserve the right to refuse medical treatments. I do not pay for medical treatment I pay for medical advice. Based on that advice and my own opinions, I will decide if I take it or not. In light of that, I must support these peoples sovereign rights over their own bodies, as I do mine. I've been vaccinated, you won't get sick!

reply to post by LightSpeedDriver

A corporate spokesman for Walgreens sent News 13 a statement, "We do allow pharmacists to step away from filling a prescription to which they have a moral objection, our policy also requires the pharmacist to refer the prescription to another pharmacist on duty who can fill the prescription.

"One person's right to do something doesn't mean they can force other people to help when it violates the other people's faith," said Bowman. "Protecting the right of a health care professional's conscience is part of the right of religious freedom because representing the right of conscience isn't stopping anyone from getting drugs. They can go elsewhere."

Originally posted by samsamm9
reply to post by SangriaRed

 

Apparently they are allowed to refuse to fill any prescriptions that goes against their belief.

That's a good thing in a free country. It's only bad to people who want to force their wishes on others as dictators.

To pretend she could not simply go to the next pharmacy is a lie, so that won't hold water with an honest person.

reply to post by samsamm9

Wow, hopefully in that case they will stop prescribing carcinogenic chemotherapy drugs real soon.

ETA Reading the 2nd paragraph better, one's professional help is unconditional, always and every time. Imagine a fire truck turning up at your house and taking one look at you and saying:

"Forget it guys, we got us a big nose, back to the station!" (I have a big nose, a comic example if you will)

How does it feel then, for professional emergency help, paid for by your taxes and laws and mandates and statutes and addendums? Where do you draw the line?

reply to post by LightSpeedDriver


I can assure you this is real. Pharmacists can deny filling any prescription they want. This is very common with narcotic pain medications - I speak from personal experience here.
I see a pain specialist who practices 150 miles away from where I now live. I've had to use one pharmacy for all my medications due to having been refused at several stores . This makes travel or any prolonged stay away from home nearly impossible for me.
Just like with insulin or heart medications those on pain meds have to get their daily dose or their bodies go into shock. I've had a couple trips to the ER over this very issue.
This story is sad but true. Lucky for her it was only birth control pills.

reply to post by LightSpeedDriver


Nobody is harmed at all by letting their Pharmacist practice his beliefs. Those products are available almost anywhere, even in Grocery Store Pharmacies. To force this person to abandon his beliefs is the opposite of Freedom and those who would want to are wanna-be dictators.

Freedom does not mean that a person only has Freedom if you happen to agree.

This is just another Partisan hack job, no doubt set up on purpose.

reply to post by samsamm9


The problem with this is that if you're going on vacation and you find this out 2 hours before you leave what exactly are you supposed to do??
That's great they want to protect their workers, what about protecting the health of their customers?

reply to post by Blaine91555


Not completely true.

As I just posted, if you're about to go on vacation and you just got your refill or for that matter a new pack and need your pills TODAY and you are finding this out when you go to pick them up because no one bothered to tell you when you had it called in, what exactly are you supposed to do?

So his freedom encroaches on a woman's freedom and that's okay?
Perhaps a person should consider that their personal beliefs might conflict with a customer.
I mean think about it like this:
Would you work in video store and say Due to my religious beliefs I cannot check people out who are renting pg-13 movies?
Perhaps you can, but is your right to work there fair to the people who regularly bring their business there?

OR

Walgreens needs to enforce a policy that lets the women know immediately how these matters are going to be handled before she gives them her business with her birth control. This way she can make an informed decision about where to take her business.

reply to post by Asktheanimals

But what you describe sounds insane.

My Dad was diabetic and eventually cancer patient. He always had at least 3 months worth of insulin in the fridge when he was in Holland.

He then moved back to the UK, discovered his cancer and started treatment. At home he always had a special bed (a vibrating mattress (electric air pump) to prevent bed sores), breathing equipment, a variety of pills (I think there were 5+, ranging from anti-biotics, to steroids sometimes, along with a buncha other stuff and then a bottle of pure morphine. It lasted. He didn't like it so the doses he took via mouth were always minimal. Along with hospital visits, often by ambulance ( ), MRI scans, all that....no cost to his wallet. The way it should be, via a reasonable but non-profit based cost. It's just nasty how it works for you guys there.


ETA Apologies. I forgot to mention the "carers" that came every day, sometimes as many as 4 times a day, to wash him, check him, help him, and tease him. And McMillan nurses too. All "fuh nuthin".

reply to post by samsamm9


In my opinion, they should be refused a license if they are going to risk the health of their customers based on their religious beliefs. Don't get into a business that you are not comfortable working in.

It's like that couple operating a B&B in the UK who wanted the right to reject gay couples based on their religious beliefs. If you're operating a business you have an obligation to follow laws, if you don't like it, don't run the business.

I wouldn't open a restaurant and then refuse to serve Christians based on my religious beliefs, and if I tried you can bet your ass the Christians would be up in arms about it.

Originally posted by SangriaRed
reply to post by samsamm9

 

The problem with this is that if you're going on vacation and you find this out 2 hours before you leave what exactly are you supposed to do??
That's great they want to protect their workers, what about protecting the health of their customers?

Well, I completely agree with the fact that you can't make anyone do whatever they don't
feel comfortable with, BUT we are talking about medication here and I say if a doctor made a certain diagnostic and gave a prescription to his patient about it, then the pharmacist HAS to do his job and just deliver the meds to the patient. That's it.

reply to post by Blaine91555


Yes that is ONE option, but being a female who has used BC in the past and knowing how important it is to not miss this could put a huge kink in her life.

I wouldn't want to force the guy to do something against his will, no.
But on the same note, his respect for customers should give him some sort of pause to reflect on how his practicing his rights because he can will affect people who are simply trying to do business and take care of their bodies according to their faith.

Just because ya can, doesn't mean ya should. kwim?

reply to post by Blaine91555

Thank you for the viewpoint. But here's my beef. I am going into a place of business, asking for a professional service. You either provide that service or you do not. This is just one step removed from refusing customers entry based on race, colour, creed, or any other arbitrary characteristic. Also, very illegal.

N.B. I'm sure there is a law about me manufacturing my own birth control pills.

One more thought before I jet off to watch a movie with dd:

Part of the problem here is that this establishment is not faith based industry.
The average woman looking for bc walks in expecting a certain service.
If her dr or she has called in a prescription and has never been told about this policy and she finds out that OOPS btw you have to come back in 2 days when the other guy is here or we can send you across town, it's a problem.

Whereas, should she walk into a faith based clinic that popularly denies that sort of treatment, unless she's living under a rock and has no clue what is going on in this world (which I guess happens) she likely knows ahead of time they'll give her a hard time about it and therefore doing it anyway is her making a stand.

Perhaps Walgreens would do well to make it a strong point with their customer base as opposed to letting women feel the effects of their policies at the worst time in their cycle.

Well, here's my first thought: If it bothers you so much why become a Pharmacist in the first place? And yes, not getting those pills in a timely manner can lead to actual pain. I was given them years ago to deal with painful periods. I was regularly given narcotics for my cramps because they were just that bad (and I was a teenager). Birth Control pills are used for a lot more than just pregnancy prevention these days.