BENTONVILLE - "The morningafter pill"has made national news this year as pharmacists and lawmakers debate the right to deny emergency contraceptives to patients.
In Arkansas, it is up to pharmacists to decide what prescriptions to fill even if the patient has a valid prescription.
In November, four Walgreens pharmacists in Illinois were placed on unpaid leave for refusing to dispense the so-called morning-after pill, which is known by the marking name Plan B. A new Illinois law says pharmacists must dispense Plan B to women, regardless of religious or personal beliefs.
Plan B is emergency contraception, a backup method to birth control. It is in the form of two levonorgestrel pills that are taken by mouth after unprotected sex. Levonorgestrel is a synthetic hormone used in birth control pills for more than 35 years.
According to the federal Food & Drug Administration, Plan B acts to stop the release of an egg from the ovary and may prevent the union of sperm and egg. If fertilization does occur, Plan B may prevent a fertilized egg from attaching to the womb. If a fertilized egg is implanted prior to taking Plan B, Plan B will not work. The drug is currently available only by prescription.
Neither Wal-Mart nor USA Drug keep the drug in stock. At Walgreens, the drug is stocked but it is up to the pharmacist on duty to decide if the medicine will be dispensed.
A Bentonville woman, who wished not to reveal her name, was surprised a few days ago when a pharmacist at the Walgreens Store in Bella Vista refused to fill her prescription for Plan B.
The woman was told to come back two hours later when a different pharmacist - one who would fill the prescription - would be on duty.
Pharmacists at the Walgreens in Bella Vista were not available for comment. A store manager referred all questions to the Walgreens corporate office in Illinois.
One local pharmacist, who refused to give his name, said he does not stock Plan B at his store. For him, the reason is more of a supply-and-demand issue rather than a moral one. He has never been asked to fill a prescription for Plan B, but admitted he has a personal problem with the drug.
John Humphries, the only pharmacist contact who was willing to allow his name to be used for this story, is a staff pharmacist at Harps in Bentonville. Humphries does not have a personal problem with the drug, but he doesn't keep it in stock either. Again, it's a supply-and-demand issue. "You've got to have a demand in order to keep it in stock,"he said. "But that doesn't mean that I wouldn't fill the prescription. I personally don't have a problem with it."
Humphries' view is that it is his job as a pharmacist to dispense drug to patients with valid prescriptions. Doing less than that would not be fulfilling his obligations to his employer. "I am a pharmacist first, and I'll put my personal feelings aside,"he said.
A national survey of 859 American pharmacists conducted by HCD Research revealed that most pharmacists believe they should have the authority to refuse to fill prescriptions for emergency contraception.
The national survey was conducted by HCD Research on Dec. 3-4 to obtain the views of pharmacists in response to the suspension of the Walgreens pharmacists in Illinois.
According to an HCD news release, the findings were as follows:
• 69 percent of the pharmacists think pharmacists should have the authority to refuse filling prescriptions for emergency contraception such as the morning-after pill.
• 39 percent of pharmacists think state laws should not require them to fill certain prescriptions, but only 23 percent believe that the patient's rights should prevail if a legal drug is prescribed by a doctor.
• 37 percent of pharmacists feel that although they should have the right to refuse, they should also be required to refer patients to another pharmacist who will fill the prescription.
• 63 percent of pharmacists do not think that Walgreens should have put the four pharmacists on unpaid leave for refusing to fill the emergency contraception prescriptions, and only 29 percent felt that Walgreens was justified in its action.
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