Please freepmail me if you want on/off this list
Posted on 12/02/2005 8:56:52 AM PST by NYer
(AP) Walgreen Co., the nation's largest drugstore chain by revenue, said it has put four Illinois pharmacists in the St. Louis area on unpaid leave for refusing to fill prescriptions for emergency contraception in violation of a state rule.
The four cited religious or moral objections to filling prescriptions for the morning-after pill and "have said they would like to maintain their right to refuse to dispense, and in Illinois that is not an option," Walgreen spokeswoman Tiffani Bruce said.
A rule imposed by Gov. Rod Blagojevich in April requires Illinois pharmacies that sell contraceptives approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to fill prescriptions for emergency birth control. Pharmacies that do not fill prescriptions for any type of contraception are not required to follow the rule.
Ed Martin, an attorney for the pharmacists, on Tuesday called the discipline "pretty disturbing" and said they would consider legal action if Walgreen doesn't reconsider.
At least six other pharmacists have sued over the rule, claiming it forces them to violate their religious beliefs. Many of those lawsuits were filed by Americans United for Life, the Chicago public interest law firm with which Martin is affiliated.
The licenses of both a pharmacy and that store's chief pharmacist could be revoked if they don't comply with the Illinois rule, Bruce said.
Walgreen, based in Deerfield, Ill., put the four on leave Monday, Bruce said. She would not identify them. They will remain on unpaid leave "until they either decide to abide by Illinois law or relocate to another state" without such a rule or law.
For example, she said, the company would be willing to help them get licensed in Missouri and they could work for Walgreen there.
Walgreen policy says pharmacists can refuse to fill prescriptions to which they are morally opposed, except where state law prohibits, but they must take steps to have the prescription filled by another pharmacist or store, Bruce said.
Bruce said Wednesday the four pharmacists were the first Walgreen had disciplined under the state's rule. Walgreen has 488 stores in Illinois, out of about 5,000 nationwide, with generally three to five pharmacists employed at each one.
It was not clear whether other large pharmacy chains had taken similar action.
Jean Coutu Group Inc., which owns more than 1,900 Eckerd and Brooks stores, requires its pharmacists to fill prescriptions for emergency contraception, spokeswoman Helene Bisson said. But she wouldn't say if Jean Coutu has taken action similar to Walgreen.
CVS Corp., the nation's largest retail pharmacy as measured by number of stores, did not immediately return calls.
Private employer has the right to set what it requires its private employees to sell.
Similarly, a private pharmacy has the right NOT to sell these products.
It's their choice.
The government need not be involved either way. The market will resolve.
How is it a violation of ones religious rights? Do your religious rights override your duty to perform you job as required by your employer? Don't want to dispense drugs that cause discomfort or possibly violate your religious standards? Don't become a pharmasist.
"Don't become a pharmasist."
Or rather, don't become an employee of WalGreens.
Go work for (or own) a pharmacy that shares your views.
Walgreen's is now on my poo-list.
Let the Walgreen's boycott begin.
Change the damn law!! It's like saying a nurse MUST participate in an abortion to keep her job.
If the pharmacists are Muslim, they will be reenstated with back pay, a promotion and get a year end bonus. If they're Catholic, they will be fired, have their licenses permanently revoked and spend two lifetimes in jail.
What's missed is that this medication was developed as a treatment for ulcers and was abandoned as the side effect was to abort a pregnancy. I think that Bayer in Germany developed it and dropped the product.
I don't really see the religious issue here. I'm a non-Christian, so I don't really care all that much about the religious beliefs of the person who waits on me in a store.
If my doctor prescribes a medication for me, I expect that prescription to be filled when I go to the pharmacy. Right now, I use Walgreens, because it is convenient for me to do so. My wife does, too. Between us, we give our local Walgreen's a good bit of business.
One refusal by Walgreen's to fill a prescription for either of us would instantly result in our transferring our prescriptions to another pharmacy. It would also cost that Walgreen's the multiple prescriptions of my wife'd parents, who are in their 80s and take lots and lots of meds.
I am not interested in the religious beliefs of the pharmacist. They are irrelevant to me. They will either fill all of my prescriptions, or they will be filling none of them.
Surprising that this sort of thing isn't settled with a 'terms of employment' contract.
I also believe the employer has a right to terminate their position with the company if they will not comply with the terms of their employment.
Consider what most people would say if you hired a Muslim and they refused to honor customers' requests to purchase liquor and pork. You would be well within your rights to dismiss them from their job.
There is no "religious rights" stuff involved here. If the pharmacists didn't like the rules, they shouldn't have worked there in the first place.
It is interesting to see how some perpetually-offended FReepers use double standards when it comes to certain issues. By the logic used here, that catholic school that fired that out of wedlock, pregnant teacher (for breaking her contract) had no reason to do so either.
What's good for the goose and all that.....
That about sums it up.
I suspect you were trying to be sarcastic, but your remarks ring of truth in this age of political-correctness insanity.
Most of the Target pharmacists here in Minneapolis are Somali pharmacy students. The local NARAL chapter protested early last month in front of company headquarters when the company said they would let pharmacists decide whether or not to fill a prescription.
A rule imposed by Gov. Rod Blagojevich in April requires Illinois pharmacies ...
In many states Walgreens allows pharmacists to observe their conscience in dispensing meds. The State of Illinois made that policy illegal, however. Walgreens has offered the pharmacists jobs in Missouri, which isn't completely obsessed with killing babies.
"It is interesting to see how some perpetually-offended FReepers use double standards when it comes to certain issues. By the logic used here, that catholic school that fired that out of wedlock, pregnant teacher (for breaking her contract) had no reason to do so either."
Better don your asbestos longjohns, you're going to get flamed to a crisp by the people who think they're better Christians than Jesus...
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