The Tennessee legislature reviewed a new bill that will grant pharmacists the option to refuse to fill any prescription with which they have a moral, ethical or religious disagreement.
Some pharmacies, like Walgreens, already allow their pharmacist to make judgment calls, according to Carol Hively, Walgreen's Corporate Spokeswoman.
"The policy is to respect the beliefs of the people who work for us," she said.
"Walgreens believes it has an obligation to meet the medical needs of all of its patients," she said. "We also believe we have an obligation to respect the wide spectrum of views and beliefs of our 163,000 employees."
However, Hively also said that pharmacists rarely refuse to fill prescriptions based on moral issues. She said that it is usually the case that a new medication conflicts with an old prescription and it would be an unhealthy combination for the patient.
"The role of the pharmacist is not just to hand out medicine," Hively said. "It is to check that the medicine is safe and in the best interest of the patient.
"Our policy allows them to make a judgment," she said. "And not specify why they refuse to fill the prescription."
The Pharmacist Freedom of Conscience Act, while allowing pharmacists to refuse to fill the prescription, requires them to specify, in writing, which medicines they will decline.
University of Memphis student Kirsten Hicks is not worried about the bill. She has gone to the same pharmacy for seven years and thinks her relationship with the company is a good one.
"They have never refused a prescription before," she said.Hicks understands, though, how a pharmacist may not feel comfortable filling certain prescriptions.
"If you walk out of there with that pack of Loritab and take four and go drinking, it could cause serious damage," said the senior journalism major. Hicks takes Loritab and a muscle spasm medication because of a stress fracture in her lower back.
Painkillers are not the only medication that might be refused by pharmacists, however.
"The types of medicines most likely would be birth control, emergency contraceptives, and RU486 (the morning after pill)," said Jacqueline De Fouw, health educator at The U of M. "Those types would be mainly targeted."
"There are laws to protect people's rights," De Fouw said. She thinks the new bill is probably an attempt to compensate for different moral or religious views. However some medications have varied uses.
"Birth control pills are hormones and often used for regulating menstrual cycles," she said. De Fouw agreed that people have a right to their beliefs and should not be forced to do something that conflicts with those values.
"I give them credit for upholding what they believe in," De Fouw said. "But I don't know that I agree with it."
