Wisconsin Judge Upholds Pharmacy Board's Punishment Of Pharmacist Who Refused To Refill Oral Contraceptive Prescription

Main Category: Pharmacy / Pharmacist
Article Date: 14 Feb 2006 - 4:00 PDT

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Barron County, Wis., Circuit Judge James Babler on Friday upheld the ruling of the state Pharmacy Examining Board against a pharmacist who refused to refill a woman's oral contraceptive prescription because of moral objections to contraception, the AP/ABC7Chicago.com reports (AP/ABC7Chicago.com, 2/7). Neil Noesen in July 2002 refused to fill university student Amanda Phiede's oral contraceptive prescription while he was working as a substitute pharmacist at a Kmart pharmacy in Menomonie, Wis. When Phiede confirmed that she was taking the drug for birth control, Noesen told her that he would not fill the prescription. Phiede then asked him where else she could get the prescription filled, and Noesen refused to provide her with that information. Phiede later went to a Wal-Mart pharmacy, but when the Wal-Mart pharmacist called Noesen to have the prescription transferred, Noesen refused, saying again that artificial contraception is against his personal beliefs. Noesen continued to refuse to fill the prescription even after two police officers and the Kmart assistant manager spoke with him. The police took no further action and the managing pharmacist filled Phiede's prescription. The examining board in April 2005 reprimanded and limited the license of the pharmacist. Under the reprimand, Noesen has to prepare written notices five days before beginning work at a pharmacy, specifying which practices he will not perform and the steps he would take to ensure that customers have access to the necessary medications. In addition, the board required that Noesen attend six hours of ethics education and pay court costs, which are estimated to be about $20,000 (Kaiser Daily Women's Health Policy Report, 4/15/2005).

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