Walgreen suspends
pharmacists refusing
to fill Plan B
scripts
By AP from
columbiatribune.com on the Web, December 1, 2005
ST. LOUIS, Nov.30 -- Walgreen
Co. said yesterday 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.
Ed Martin, an attorney for the four, called the discipline "pretty disturbing"
and said the pharmacists would consider legal action if Walgreen doesn’t
reconsider.
Citing religious or moral grounds over filling prescriptions for the
"morning-after pill," the four "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 first imposed by Gov. Rod Blagojevich in April that became permanent in
August requires Illinois pharmacies that sell contraceptives approved by the
U.S. Food and Drug Administration to fill prescriptions for emergency birth
control such as the morning-after pill. Pharmacies that do not fill
prescriptions for any type of contraception are not required to follow the rule.
At least six other pharmacists have sued over the rule, claiming it forces them
to violate their religious beliefs. Many of those lawsuits were pressed by
Americans United for Life, a Chicago-based public interest law firm with which
Martin is affiliated.
Illinois’ rule requires that prescriptions for emergency contraception be filled
"without delay," and not complying can result in the suspension of a pharmacy’s
license and that site’s chief pharmacist, Bruce said.
Deerfield-based Walgreen put the four on leave Monday to comply with the rule,
she said. Bruce would not identify the four pharmacists involved or the
stores where they worked.
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.
The four pharmacists can be reassigned to a Missouri store if they choose, and
Walgreen would help them get licensed in that state. "As far as I know,
they have not taken us up on that offer," Bruce said.
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