Conversation in a Pharmacy
Such mortal drugs I have - Shakespeare, Romeo & Juliet
Person at counter: "I'd like this prescription filled, please"
Pharmacist: "Possibly... may I see it?"
Person at counter: (Puzzled)" I'm sorry?"
Pharmacist: "Let me see the prescription and I'll let you know if I'll fill it."
Person: (Taken aback) "Uh, all right..."
Pharmacist: (Perusing the prescription) "Oh, I'm very sorry, but it seems that you want
Lamivudine, Zidovudine; and AZT, so I must respectfully refuse to fill your prescription."
Person: "What!??"
Pharmacist: These are AIDS anti-viral drugs, and my religious beliefs do not allow me to condone or support homosexuality."
Person: "But...but... I used a condom!"
Pharmacist: "Dear, me, I wouldn't have allowed you to buy condoms, either - that would be condoning birth control and pre-marital sex."
Person: (exasperated) "Well, can I at least get my insulin prescription filled?
Pharmacist: "Uh, actually....no"
Person: (Approaching apoplexy) "Er... ah...uh.......Why?"
Pharmacist: "I'm an orthodox Christian Scientist"
Person: "Arghhhhhhhhhhhh"
There is nothing, save that elusive thing called common sense, to stop the above conversation from taking place in any pharmacy in America, if pharmacists are allowed to pick and choose what drugs and treatments they're willing to dispense based on the caprice of their religious beliefs.
Worse still, nobody seems to be watching the proverbial slippery slope upon which we're standing, one that has a frighteningly slick surface with fast-disappearing guardrails. These pharmacists are leading the charge against providing the basic services for which one enters a pharmacy - getting the drugs prescribed by one's physician.
Oh, and then there's Karen Brauer, president of 'Pharmacists for Life', an organization advocating the "right" of pharmacists to refuse to fill prescriptions. Think she's just a strong religious believer? You might want to check with Media Matters for America, whence you'll discover that she was fired from a previous job after she "lied to a patient about prescribed medication, refused to fill a prescription, and refused to promise to fill prescriptions in the future." That's just what what I want to contend with when I'm in need of medicine - the Jihadi religious police at the corner drug store.
Forces of repression are creeping into Osco, CVS, Brooks and other pharmacies. If ANY pharmacist refuses ANY prescription, we need to tell them in no uncertain terms that they are violating the basic criteria for being a pharmacist, and they should find themselves another line of work. Maybe in a candy store.
Needless to say, we should also shop elsewhere.
