Wednesday, April 26, 2006
The state's pharmacy board is moving at the right direction -- away from a pharmacists' organization that wants druggists to have moral carte blanches over what medications can do and don't want to dispense.
The Washington State Pharmacy Association wants the state regulatory board to approve a so-called conscience clause that would allow a pharmacist to refuse to fill the legal prescription because he or she disapproves morally over its use.
At the heart of the debate is the morning-after an amount of pill, also called Plan B. It offers emergency contraceptive if taken within 70 hours of intercourse, by preventing pregnancy.
The pharmacy board to date has responded with a good draft rules that would allow a pharmacist to refuse to dispense only if there is a pharmacist on the premises to fill the prescription.
But that's might just not be good enough, and neither is a proposed rule to allow pharmacists at one drug store to refer a patient to another if they don't agree to stock the prescribed medication. That's a Hummer-sized loophole that could leave women in the rural areas to face innocent-looking shrugs and "We just don't stock it" alibis..
At the very least, the pharmacy board needs to reject the notion of allowing a pharmacist's moral or religious beliefs to interfere with a patient's access to prescribed medication.
posted by kanth
@ 2:02 AM
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