Court Should Lift Injunction Against Wash. State Rules Requiring Pharmacies To Fill Prescriptions, Opinion Piece Says

Main Category: Women's Health / Gynecology
Also Included In: Sexual Health / STDs;  Pharmacy / Pharmacist;  Medical Malpractice / Litigation
Article Date: 09 Jul 2008 - 9:00 PDT

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Lengthy litigation over Washington State Board of Pharmacy rules should not interfere with women's access to birth control, including emergency contraception, a Seattle Times editorial says (Seattle Times, 7/7).

The pharmacy board adopted new rules last year that require pharmacies to fill all valid prescriptions, including prescriptions for emergency contraception. A pharmacy owner and two pharmacists filed a lawsuit in July 2007 challenging the rule, claiming that it establishes a duty to dispense EC and therefore violates their civil rights. U.S. District Court Judge Ronald Leighton in November 2007 issued an injunction against the rules, preventing them from going into effect. Leighton in February refused a request by the defendants, including the state Department of Health and the pharmacy board, to lift the injunction (Daily Women's Health Policy Report, 2/20). According to the Times, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals should lift the injunction when they consider the issue on Tuesday.

The pharmacy and pharmacists challenging the rule argue that it "forc[es] them to choose between their beliefs and their livelihoods," the editorial says. According to the editorial, that "argument is a red herring giving subterfuge to a larger battle over" EC. Pharmacists can "exercise professional freedom" by refusing to fill prescriptions for a number of reasons pertaining to patient health, according to the editorial. However, they "cannot use their authority to push personal views on others, particularly when a woman's health is at stake," the editorial says, noting that 70% of respondents to a Planned Parenthood poll oppose allowing pharmacists to pick and choose prescriptions based on personal, moral and religious beliefs.

The trial date for the constitutional challenges to the rule has been set for April 2009, but women should "not have to wait nearly a year to find out whether pharmacies will meet their needs or turn them away," the editorial says (Seattle Times, 7/7).

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