Woman denied abortion pill for miscarriage

[Aragarthiel]

The original post is on Facebook so I'm not going to post it here, but I'll paraphrase.

A woman with a history of miscarriages finds out she's pregnant and goes in for er first ultrasound. Something's not right so they bring her in every week, until at about 10 weeks they tell her that her baby probably died at 5-6 weeks, but her body didn't try to expel anything. The doctor prescribes her an abortion pill to help her body expel everything, and (from what I can understand) it's auto-sent to her pharmacy at a Walmart nearby that she used to work at.

This woman then gets a call from her doctor, saying that the pharmacy won't fill her prescription and won't tell the doctor why. They dig a little bit, get the runaround, then she tries to go to another pharmacy, where the same thing happens. Things get confusing here, but I think she goes over to the original pharmacy and talks to the Pharmacy Manager, who she used to work with, and they say that they weren't comfortable prescribing an abortion pill to her. She explains her situation and rants at them about how they shouldn't be questioning why she needs something like this and how she shouldn't have to explain something so sensitive and personal. She didn't say if she ever got her pills or not, but this story just made me

Not to mention, this was perfectly legal.

My first thought was, if she had actually miscarried a month before, if she didn't get her pills it could make her seriously sick.

My second thought was, this is not the way I wanted to start my morning.

[Kuari]

They could have sent her in for a D&C instead of prescribing the pill. Perhaps that would have been a viable alternative if no pharmacy was willing to fill the prescription.

[Aragarthiel]

Okay, I found some clarification.

There was no second pharmacy, she went straight to the first one and talked with a lady there. She was SUPPOSED to get a call back from the pharmacy's District Manager but never did. The pharmacist she spoke with said she wouldn't fill the prescription because she didn't see a reason to. Not because of religious beliefs or anything, but because the pharmacist didn't think she needed it.

[TheHuckster]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't a doctor's prescription trump any second opinion from a pharmacist? I thought the only thing a pharmacist is responsible for is providing the correct dosage, providing directions on its use, and identifying any possible conflicts with other medication the patient is taking.

Saying essentially that the doctor who prescribed the pills was wrong and denying the order is stepping over the bounds of the pharmacist, I'd think. If the pharmacist had concerns, they should contact the doctor with them rather than simply refusing to fill the order.

[Aragarthiel]

That's where the law I mentioned comes into place.

http://www.ncsl.org/research/health/...formation.aspx

This movement resulted in the term “conscience clause," which gives pharmacists the right to refuse to perform certain services based on a violation of personal beliefs or values.

It's legal, the gray area is that the pharmacist didn't mention beliefs, she technically tried to diagnose the woman as not needing the pills.

[Blue Ginger]

Okay, I found some clarification.

There was no second pharmacy, she went straight to the first one and talked with a lady there. She was SUPPOSED to get a call back from the pharmacy's District Manager but never did. The pharmacist she spoke with said she wouldn't fill the prescription because she didn't see a reason to. Not because of religious beliefs or anything, but because the pharmacist didn't think she needed it.

And this is the point where I would be saying 'fuck you' and getting my script transferred to another pharmacy.

I feel so sorry for this lady. As if what is happening is not sad and stressful enough, she then had to deal with someone so far in the dark ages they have to ship the light in.

Quite frankly if the pharmacist believes that the drugs are unnecessary, they should have discussed it with the doctor and not the patient. That would give the doc a chance to send the patient elsewhere.

So glad that in Oz, I can take my prescription to any pharmacy I want. Have only had an issue once and that is because they didn't have enough of the drug to fill the script.

[fireheart17]

So glad that in Oz, I can take my prescription to any pharmacy I want. Have only had an issue once and that is because they didn't have enough of the drug to fill the script.

Just for clarity's sake, doctors over here do not prescribe any "antiabortion" drug for women to be filled at a pharmacy. It's given at the clinic or hospital where the woman is watched over, for safety reasons. I do believe it's also still illegal in some states.

Also question: could the doctor have offered to put in a laminaria (I think that's how its spelt) to encourage the cervix to dilate? I don't know if it's still done, but I'm aware it is a thing.

[Aragarthiel]

Encouraging the cervix to dilate doesn't necessarily cause contractions, and you need (mild) contractions to complete a miscarriage. That's what the pill was for. Here, doctors prefer to use pills so the woman can go home and relax, instead of making it more traumatic by sending her to a hospital.