Idaho Pharmacy Board Will Not Investigate Complaint That Walgreens Pharmacist Refused To Fill Prescription

Main Category: Pharmacy / Pharmacist
Also Included In: Women's Health / Gynecology;  Abortion
Article Date: 27 Jan 2011 - 3:00 PDT

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The Idaho Board of Pharmacy said it lacks a basis to start proceedings against Walgreens after Planned Parenthood of the Great Northwest issued a complaint alleging that one of the store's pharmacists violated the state's 2010 conscience law by refusing to fill a prescription, the Idaho Press reports (Dooley, Idaho Press, 1/25).

The law states that a health care worker may refuse to provide care related to abortion, emergency contraception or end-of-life care if it violates his or her conscience. In the Walgreens case, the nurse practitioner said the pharmacist refused to fill a prescription she ordered for Methergine, which is used to prevent or control bleeding after an abortion or childbirth. The medication is not an abortifacient.

The pharmacist allegedly asked if the medication was to be used in post-abortion care, which the nurse practitioner refused to answer citing patient confidentiality requirements. The pharmacist said the prescription would not be filled unless the question was answered. When the nurse asked to be referred to another pharmacy, the pharmacist hung up, according to the complaint. PPGNW has said it believes the pharmacist wrongly applied the conscience protections (Women's Health Policy Report, 1/13).

Idaho Board of Pharmacy Executive Director Mark Johnston told PPGNW in a letter that the panel decided the pharmacist did not violate patient confidentiality laws by asking if the woman had an abortion, adding that there is no requirement in the Idaho Pharmacy Act for a pharmacist to fill a prescription. He also stated that the argument that the patient's health could have been jeopardized by the refusal of the pharmacist was inaccurate. Johnston said, "The board's investigation confirmed that the patient received treatment elsewhere and therefore no 'grave danger' was realized." The investigation is closed "without any further action," he said.

PPGNW spokesperson Kristen Glundberg-Prossor called the decision "disappointing," but said PPGNW was not surprised by it. She added, "This decision confirms that, in Idaho, a pharmacist has no duty to fill any prescription for any reason. Right now, there is no protection under Idaho law for patients to receive treatment if a pharmacist refuses to provide it" (Idaho Press, 1/25).

Reprinted with kind permission from http://www.nationalpartnership.org. You can view the entire Daily Women's Health Policy Report, search the archives, or sign up for email delivery here. The Daily Women's Health Policy Report is a free service of the National Partnership for Women & Families.

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