He'd Just Better Give Me My Damn Meds with No Questions Asked

[dampha]

It is heartening to hear that this guy has received some comeuppance. But the sanctions seem to focus on all the wrong things. The reason that we bleeding-heart liberals were so outraged by his refusal to dispense contraceptives is that we believed that refusal constituted a failure on his part to do his job, not to mention that he was denying

Comments

[the_sween]

I think the whole thing boiled down to that he wouldn't transfer the prescription and that's why he's been punished. If he had simply refused to fill it and given the script back to the woman, I doubt this would be much of an issue.

Not that I agree with this logic at all. If you're a phamacist and someone brings in a prescription from a doctor, you fill it. End of story.

[dampha]

Will you volunteer to teach his ethics classes, then? :)

[the_sween]

Certainly. It will very similiar to Chef's method for getting kids to do their homework called, "sit down and study or I'll crack you in the mouth again". I can only assume that replacing "study" with "fill the presciption" would have the same effect. I'm confident it will work.

[fountainal]

If ya ask me, they were to easy on him. This guy has no business doing that job at all if he is going to pick and choose which parts of it he will or won't do. I agree with you, that qualifier is bullshit. It's not like he is a doctor who chooses not to perform abortions, or a lawyer who chooses not to defend rapists. Many professionals have long had the ability to limit or focus their practice. A pharmacist, on the other hand, performs routine, ministerial duties. It's his job to count out the correct number of pills, put them in the fucking bottle, and ask the patient if he understands what he or she is taking and how and when to take it. (OK, they are also supposed to check for drug interactions, etc.) The point is, there is no precedent for pharmacists limiting their practice in tha same way that doctors and lawyers do, and there shouldn't be. If a doctor issues a valid prescription, the patient should be able to choose a pharmace based on the convenience of the location or their insurance coverage or whatever, and trust

[dampha]

Amen, brothah.

Although I think you mean, "a lawyer who chooses not to defend alleged rapists."

And on a more serious note, I doubt that there are district attorneys that could refuse to prosecute, say, abortion clinic bombers. And doctors who work in clinics rather than private practices are often compelled to perform procedures that they find morally distasteful (or at least they will be until the Right has its way). Even those professional privileges are tenuous.

[joakleaf]

I just wonder who the fuck he thinks he is, deciding what's good for somebody else. Al summed everything up quite nicely, and I don't have much to add.
The fact we are talking about this is indicitive of a larger problem, but I'll be darned if I know what it is.

It's probably God Stuff.

[dampha]

Soon, if the legislature has its way, pharmacists will have an undisputed right to refuse to fill prescriptions that they don't like.

Me, I'm going to start refusing to say lines that I don't like. I am happy to transfer them to another actor, though.

WORSE

[mikhfarah]

I dont know the status of the legislation...but didnt they pass or try to pass some bullshit conscience law excusing hospitals doctors AND insurances from covering and/or otherwise treating patients based on personal or general company conscience??

Re: WORSE

[dampha]

Yeah, that's still in the works. But it's already the case that insurance doesn't have to cover, say, birth control. I don't think that insurance plans are mandated to cover anything besides mental health benefits.

[bookbear]

Ya know, I don't get to choose not to teach this guy's kid if I think the kid is an asshole, so he needs to hand over my fucking viagra, and my wife's fucking birth control, and he needs to shut his tight-assed Christian pie-hole! AND BE SNAPPY ABOUT IT!

[dampha]

But, you know, fountainal might be on to something with his rebellious waitstaffs and grocery store clerks. Maybe we should just all take a stand. I envision:

* Librarians and bookstore clerks refusing to distribute novels with insipid plots and/or dialogue
* Car dealerships refusing to sell sports cars to certain men on the grounds that it makes them look like assholes
* Clothing store clerks refusing to sell hip-huggers and midriff shirts to, well, anybody

It's the dawning of a brave new world. Bring it on, I say!!!