Free Republic

Druggists seeking power to prescribe Plan allows pharmacist to act without doctor's consent   Carly Weeks CanWest News Service Tuesday, July 11, 2006   OTTAWA - Many Canadians may soon have to travel no further than their neighbourhood pharmacy to treat what ails them and critics are up in arms over changes they say will turn pharmacists into pill-pushing entrepreneurs intent on over-medicating the population.A growing number of Canadian pharmacists want the power to prescribe drugs without a doctor's consent. The controversy erupted recently when Alberta declared it was moving forward with a plan to let pharmacists independently prescribe...

OLYMPIA, Washington, June 23, 2006 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The owners of a popular grocery store have refused to stock abortifacient Plan B medication, triggering threats of a month-long boycott by women’s rights activists.Kevin Stormans, co-owner of Ralph’s Thriftway, said the store pharmacy would not carry Plan B medication because of moral concerns over the drug, the Olympian reported on Wednesday.“I don’t want to get into a detailed debate. I just think people have to choose when they believe life begins,” Mr. Stormans told the Olympian. “There are questions about this drug on that issue.”Widely touted as an “emergency contraceptive” by advocates, in...

MADISON, WI (AP) -- Wal-Mart Stores Inc. acted appropriately by firing a Catholic pharmacist who refused to interact with patients seeking birth control prescriptions, a federal judge ruled Thursday. U.S. District Judge John Shabaz dismissed a lawsuit brought by Neil Noesen, who claimed he was fired last summer at a Wal-Mart store in Onalaska, WI out of religious discrimination. The lawsuit also named Medical Staffing Network, a staffing agency that placed Noesen at the store as a temporary pharmacist. Shabaz said Wal-Mart and Medical Staffing Network accommodated Noesen's religious opposition to contraception by having other pharmacists fill prescriptions. But he...

ST. PAUL – Pharmacists should not be required to dispense medicine such as birth control pills if they feel it would violate their ethics, religion or morals, Michael Barrett says. A Minnesota House committee agreed Wednesday, sending a bill giving pharmacists the right to say no to the full House. Pharmacists testified that there are very few times when one of them cannot fill a prescription in good conscience, but Barrett said the law change is important. “Besides my education, I find my morals and ethics the most important things I bring to my job,” Barrett said. Barrett, a Long...

Mar 7, 2006, 23:28 WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Concerned Women for America (CWA) noted that Wal-Mart relented to pressure by pro-abortion groups to consent to carry the morning-after pill, not in response to requests by customers. "By all accounts, Wal-Mart’s decision came after a high-pressure campaign orchestrated by abortion groups like Planned Parenthood," said Wendy Wright, CWA’s President. "There is not a great demand for the morning-after pill by Wal-Mart's customers. Other pharmacies have also reported a lack of requests for the drug. "This decision will artificially inflate the number of 'sales' to stock Wal-Mart's stores. We expect that abortion advocates...

For years, Janey Karp has battled depression and anxiety with the help of prescription drugs. Though millions of Americans do the same, Karp admits she is intensely private and can't help but feel stigmatized for needing medication to feel normal. So when the 53-year-old Palm Beach resident read the Walgreens printout attached to her prescription last week for the sleep aid Ambien, she couldn't believe her eyes. Typed in a field reserved for patient information and dated March 17, 2005, was "CrAzY!!" In another field, dated Sept. 30, 2004, it read: "She's really a psycho!!! Do not say her name...

"In a major turnaround, Wal-Mart will begin stocking Plan B contraceptives -- commonly referred to as the "morning-after pill" -- at all of its pharmacies, the company said Friday."

HARTFORD -- The insurance plan for 188,000 state employees and retirees should no longer cover prescriptions at Wal-Mart unless the retail giant agrees to stock emergency contraception pills, Attorney General Richard Blumenthal said Thursday. Comptroller Nancy Wyman, who administers the plan, requested the ruling. She also sent a letter asking Wal-Mart officials to voluntarily stock the so-called "morning after pill" in its 20 Connecticut pharmacies, but said Thursday that she has not received a response. The board that oversees Massachusetts pharmacies ruled last month that Wal-Marts in that state must fill prescriptions for emergency contraception, and Illinois has a similar...

Should the government really be telling businesses what products they can stock on their shelves? That‘s debatable, but it is happening. Wal-Mart was ordered this week by the Massachusetts Board of Pharmacy to carry the morning after pill. It‘s an emergency contraceptive and a commercial one. The directive came after three women, backed by abortion rights groups, sued Wal-Mart to carry the pill in its Massachusetts stores. Dr. Rebecca Guy is one of those women. Dr. Guy, along with her attorney Mr. Sam Perkins, joined Tucker Carlson to discuss the case. CARLSON: Doctor, why should government be telling businesses what...

BOSTON (AP) - The state board that oversees pharmacies voted Tuesday to require Wal-Mart to stock emergency contraception pills at its Massachusetts pharmacies, a spokeswoman at the Department of Public Health said. The unanimous decision by the Massachusetts Board of Pharmacy comes two weeks after three women sued Wal-Mart in state court for failing to carry the so called "morning after" pill in its Wal-Mart and Sam's Club stores in the state. The women argue state policy requires pharmacies to provide all "commonly prescribed medicines." The board has sent a letter to Wal-Mart lawyers informing them of the decision, said...

BARRON, WI (AP) - A judge has upheld sanctions against a pharmacist who refused to dispense birth control pills to a college student and wouldn't transfer her prescription elsewhere. Barron County Circuit Judge James Babler affirmed the punishment the state Pharmacy Examining Board handed down against pharmacist Neil Noesen. The board ruled last April that Noesen failed to carry out his responsibility to get the prescription to someone else if he wouldn't fill it himself. The board reprimanded Noesen, of St. Paul, Minn., and ordered him to attend ethics classes. He will get to keep his license if he informs...

Boston, MA (LifeNews.com) -- Three Massachusetts women, with the backing of leading pro-abortion organizations, have filed a lawsuit against Wal-Mart because the nation's top retailer does not carry the morning after pills, which can sometimes cause an abortion. An attorney in the case did not have more details, including the names of the women who sued, but told the Boston Globe newspaper the lawsuit is based on long-standing pharmacy regulations in the state. Responding to the lawsuit, a Wal-Mart spokeswoman, Sarah Clark, said the company doesn't carry the morning after pill for "business reasons." She declined to discuss those reasons...

STEINBACH, Manitoba, January 30, 2006 (LifeSiteNew.com) –Over half the pharmacies in the town of Steinbach refuse to stock the abortifacient pill known as “Plan B,” which will prevent pregnancy, or end a pregnancy in the first few days following conception. "You're not going to find that around here because of the kind of community this is," staff in a small, privately owned pharmacy told the Winnipeg Free Press last week. Steinbach is a predominantly Christian community with strong roots in the Mennonite tradition. Health Canada made Plan B available without a prescription in April 2005. It is kept behind...

CNSNews.com) - A pro-life group is filing lawsuits on behalf of four Illinois pharmacists who were fired from Walgreens for their opposition to filling prescriptions for the morning-after pill. Americans United for Life (AUL) said the plaintiffs were asked to sign a paper agreeing to dispense the drug, which they believe can cause abortions in early pregnancies. When they refused to sign the paper, they were terminated. Those firings violated the Illinois Rights of Conscience Act, AUL claimed. "Walgreens is trampling on the civil rights of employees who are protected from discrimination under Illinois law. These pharmacists were fired because...

Marketplace investigates illegal sales of a coveted antiviral drug. Tamiflu has been touted as a miracle, should influenza pandemic strike. Trouble is, it’s growing hard to get hold of through legal channels. We take a journey to show who’s been cashing in on our flu fears. CBC MARKETPLACE: HEALTH » BUYING DRUGS ONLINE Flu's gold: Buying into pandemic fear Broadcast: January 29, 2006 The golden pill at the heart of the scheme is an antiviral called Tamiflu. This is a story about a hunt for a prescription drug that everybody wants, but nobody can get. It’s a hunt that leads...

EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. - Four pharmacists who refused to sign a pledge promising to dispense the morning-after birth-control pill sued Walgreen drug stores Friday, alleging they were illegally fired. The lawsuits accuse Walgreen Co. of violating the Illinois Health Care Right of Conscience Act. The pharmacists were being represented by the American Center for Law and Justice, a public-interest group founded by evangelist Pat Robertson. A new state rule requires pharmacies that sell federally approved contraceptives to fill prescriptions for emergency birth control "without delay" if they have the medication in stock. The rule is being challenged in federal court. In...

ST. LOUIS, Missouri, January 27, 2006 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A Target pharmacist has lost her job for refusing to dispense or refer for the abortifacient morning-after pill.“For me, life begins with two cells,” said Heather Williams, explaining that the so-called emergency contraception pill, Plan B by Barr Pharmaceuticals, often prevents implantation of a newly formed human embryo within the uterine wall – which, of course, constitutes abortion. The same mechanism is responsible for the sometimes abortifacient effect of the regular birth-control-pill.According to a St. Louis Post-Dispatch report, Williams has refused to dispense or refer for the abortifacient for the past five...

Widow Of Slain Trooper Sues Makers, Sellers Of Meth Ingredient WALTERS - The widow of a slain trooper filed a wrongful-death lawsuit Tuesday against those who make and/or sell pseudoephedrine. Linda Green claims in the Cotton County lawsuit that drug companies and suppliers -- including Pfizer, Wal-Mart, Walgreen, Dollar General and United Supermarkets -- knew methamphetamine addicts were buying the drug to get high and not to treat a cold. She also charges makers knew how to make the pseudoephedrine tablets without allowing drug addicts to extract the ingredients needed to make methamphetamine. "The reason for filing this suit is...

The American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ) announced today that legal action is underway in defense of two pharmacists who were fired for refusing to hand out abortifacient drugs. “These Conscience Clause cases are significant and represent the cutting edge of the abortion debate in our country right now;” ACLJ said in a statement to the press. “Doctors, nurses and pharmacists should not be compelled to violate their conscience and participate in an abortion procedure. We have already had success in a number of cases around the country, and we are confident that we will succeed in Illinois as...

A measure to shield drug manufacturers from lawsuits in an effort to encourage them to develop new vaccines is likely to be quietly attached to a "must pass" defense appropriation bill within the next few days. If the US Secretary of Health and Human Services declares that vaccines were being distributed during a national health emergency, such as a flu pandemic, the bill would make it very difficult for people who felt they had been harmed by vaccines to pursue legal action against the manufacturer. A broad swath of consumer-rights groups and open-government advocates had succeeded in slowing the progress...