Pharmacy Refusals
At their December 14, 2006 meeting the Washington State Board of Pharmacy voted to move forward with two rules that protect patients’ rights to have valid prescriptions filled without judgment or discrimination. The rules also apply to drugs and devices approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for restricted distribution by pharmacies, including Plan B emergency contraception.
You can read these two rules by clicking here and here. The current proposed language was released after the Board reconsidered a policy they had endorsed on June 2, 2006, which would have allowed pharmacists to refuse to fill valid prescriptions.
Refusal policies pose a particular threat to the availability of birth control, particularly the morning-after pill marketed as Plan B, because this medication is only effective is taken within 72 hours of unprotected sex. If a woman is made to wait for her prescription, she risks losing this preventative option and becoming pregnant. Referring women to other pharmacists is simply impractical in many small, rural communities, where options and transportation are limited.
Birth control opponents have attempted to cloud the issue by equating Plan B with abortion, but the medical facts are clear and unambiguous: Plan B is a contraceptive. It prevents pregnancy, and will not harm an existing pregnancy. Pharmacists’ personal feelings on the abortion debate have nothing to do with their obligation to dispense this drug.
NARAL Pro-Choice Washington thanks Governor Christine Gregoire for her leadership on this issue and for working with the Board to develop a rule that protects patient access to prescriptions.
- NARAL Pro-Choice Washington recognizes that pharmacists have an important role to play in the provision of health care and their professional judgment must be valued and respected. However, pharmacists should not be allowed to deny patients needed medications based on their personal, non-medical, judgments.
- Pharmacist refusal to fill emergency contraception prescriptions, even with referral to another pharmacy, forces a woman to use a contraceptive that is less effective than it would have been if she had access to it sooner.
- A woman who lives in a rural area and is refused emergency contraception and given a referral may face a trip of many miles to another pharmacy - which may not be a viable option due to lack of transportation, childcare, or an inflexible work schedule.
- Pharmacists should not be allowed to refuse to fill a valid prescription, UNLESS there is another pharmacist available to fill the prescripton in a timely manner.
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