Okay, this pisses me off.......
Jul. 7th, 2004 01:26 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
patgundInteresting (and personally infuriating) article about women discovering that their OB/GYN or Phamacist have decided that they will no longer prescribe birth control pills (or any other hormonal method), or fill perscriptions for such.
Access Denied
"In April, Julee Lacey, 33, a Fort Worth, TX, mother of two, went to her local CVS drugstore for a last-minute Pill refill. She had been getting her prescription filled there for a year, so she was astonished when the pharmacist told her, "I personally don't believe in birth control and therefore I'm not going to fill your prescription." Lacey, an elementary school teacher, was shocked. "The pharmacist had no idea why I was even taking the Pill. I might have needed it for a medical condition."
Melissa Kelley, 35, was just as stunned when her gynecologist told her she would not renew her prescription for birth control pills last fall.
"She told me she couldn't in good faith prescribe the Pill anymore," says Kelley, who lives with her husband and son in Allentown, PA. Then the gynecologist told Kelley she wouldn't be able to get a new prescription from her family doctor, either. "She said my primary care physician was the one who helped her make the decision."
Lacey's pharmacist and Kelley's doctors are among hundreds, perhaps thousands, of physicians and pharmacists who now adhere to a controversial belief that birth control pills and other forms of hormonal contraception--including the skin patch, the vaginal ring, and progesterone injections--cause tens of thousands of "silent" abortions every year. Consequently, they are refusing to prescribe or dispense them."
Considering that the pill is also used for non-contraceptive means as well, I find this belief beyond contenpt. Doctors, phamacists, nurses, *any* health care professional should not try to force their moral views on the patient. If they aren't willing to prescribe certain medications, they need to let all their patients know up front before an examination ever takes place, and inform any HMO's or Health Care plans they may be listed in. And, even better, post a sign stating such in the waiting room, with referrals to allow patients to go elsewhere. As for the pharmacist, it's not their business what the medication is for. If they are not willing to fill the perscription, they need to either pass it on to another pharmcist that will fill it at that pharmacy, or find another line of work.
Dammed asshats.......
Access Denied
"In April, Julee Lacey, 33, a Fort Worth, TX, mother of two, went to her local CVS drugstore for a last-minute Pill refill. She had been getting her prescription filled there for a year, so she was astonished when the pharmacist told her, "I personally don't believe in birth control and therefore I'm not going to fill your prescription." Lacey, an elementary school teacher, was shocked. "The pharmacist had no idea why I was even taking the Pill. I might have needed it for a medical condition."
Melissa Kelley, 35, was just as stunned when her gynecologist told her she would not renew her prescription for birth control pills last fall.
"She told me she couldn't in good faith prescribe the Pill anymore," says Kelley, who lives with her husband and son in Allentown, PA. Then the gynecologist told Kelley she wouldn't be able to get a new prescription from her family doctor, either. "She said my primary care physician was the one who helped her make the decision."
Lacey's pharmacist and Kelley's doctors are among hundreds, perhaps thousands, of physicians and pharmacists who now adhere to a controversial belief that birth control pills and other forms of hormonal contraception--including the skin patch, the vaginal ring, and progesterone injections--cause tens of thousands of "silent" abortions every year. Consequently, they are refusing to prescribe or dispense them."
Considering that the pill is also used for non-contraceptive means as well, I find this belief beyond contenpt. Doctors, phamacists, nurses, *any* health care professional should not try to force their moral views on the patient. If they aren't willing to prescribe certain medications, they need to let all their patients know up front before an examination ever takes place, and inform any HMO's or Health Care plans they may be listed in. And, even better, post a sign stating such in the waiting room, with referrals to allow patients to go elsewhere. As for the pharmacist, it's not their business what the medication is for. If they are not willing to fill the perscription, they need to either pass it on to another pharmcist that will fill it at that pharmacy, or find another line of work.
Dammed asshats.......
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Your facts are Wrong.
Date: 2004-07-08 08:00 am (UTC)Look at this article:
http://nyc.indymedia.org/newswire/display/92134/index.php (http://nyc.indymedia.org/newswire/display/92134/index.php)
The fact of the matter is that she was looking for a morning-after pill called "Plan B" that the FDA has approved as being available without a prescription. She wsa NOT trying to get a refill of her birth control pills as the article implied.
Whatever article you were citing intentionally distorted the facts.
The argument for the FDA's decision to make "Plan B" available w/o a prescription is that access to it would be too difficult if it involved going to a doctor first. "Plan B" is merely a concentrated dosage of the hormones found in regular birth-contorl pills.
The pharmacist who cited religious reasons for not selling the drug to her was the 3rd pharmacy she visited that day. The other two did not even have it in stock. There was no prescription. The pharmacist was not required to sell it without a prescription.
--Darrel.
Puzzle - I don't see what you're saying here
Date: 2004-07-08 11:07 am (UTC)To quote the article you provided:
" Julie Lacey of Fort Worth, Texas, a first-grade teacher and mother of two, told the Houston Chronicle that she went to a CVS drugstore to pick up her birth control pills but had to leave empty handed."
ABC also did a story on what Julee Lacey faced.
http://abcnews.go.com/sections/WNT/Living/birth_control_pharmacists_040406-1.html
I stand corrected
Date: 2004-07-09 07:46 am (UTC)Since the link came up from a search for Julie Lacey, I misinterpreted the first person the article was referring to as being her. *That* person had trouble getting Plan B.
I see now where Julie Lacey was referred to in the article later, nearly 2/3rd's down the page.
My bad.
--Darrel.
no subject
Date: 2004-07-08 09:44 am (UTC)If the previous commenter is correct, however, and the gal didn't actually have a prescription, they should give her the Plan B pill anyway since she's too stupid to breed. [snarl] What, me an elitist snob?
no subject
Date: 2004-07-08 11:37 am (UTC)And I agree. If the doctor or pharmacist doesn't provide you with the services you require, you should have the right to go elsewhere. And if they're not willing to provide the services, they should be required to refer you to someone who will ASAP, no problems or hassles.