Reader John and his friend Michelle found themselves in a situation where they needed to get “Plan B” birth control, also known as “the morning after pill.” They went to their local CVS in Hawthorne, CA. and met an uncooperative pharmacist who refused them access to the pills because Michelle only had foreign ID to prove she is of legal age. (18+) The pharmacist also refused John’s state issued ID with the reason that it could not be sold to man, however, the FDA’s website clearly says that Plan B can be sold OTC to a man or woman who is 18 or over. Find out what happened to John and Michelle, inside….
Ok, so we had an “accident” with our condom. We decided before it was too late to purchase the famous PlanB at a local CVS pharmacy. When we got there the pharmacist requested a “state issued I.D.”. My friend is visiting so she does not have a state-issued I.D. so she showed her Colombian citizenship ID that clearly shows her date of birth as well as her picture and signature. The pharmacist did not even look at it and rejected it because it was not a US-issued I.D.
So I told her, “What if someone is here illegally and is raped? Would that mean they don’t have the right to buy Plan B?” She kept saying “It’s the law.” I got really mad and told her that was absurd. Then I told her that I had a state-issued I.D. and she said that it could only be purchased by the person who is going to take it, which basically means it can only be sold to women.
So we went back home and I searched online for information about purchasing Plan B, and I found on the FDA’s website that as long as you are over 18, you can buy it, no matter if you are a male or a female.
I printed this information and headed back to the pharmacy. I confronted the pharmacist and told her that the law protects me as a consumer and that I had the right to buy the pill. She did not even look at the information I had printed and kept saying “It’s the law.”
We ended up buying it from another CVS pharmacy in the area. The pharmacist there was very polite. At the beginning she did not know that the law allows ANYONE over 18 to purchase it but she did not have a problem verifying her age with a foreign-issued ID.
Please publish this story. People need to know their rights. Thank you Consumerist!
We sympathize with you both. It sounds like this CVS pharmacist put you through a lot of trouble for no good reason because according to the FDA’s website, a man or woman can purchase Plan B if they are 18 or older and does not mention the exclusion of foreign identification. From the FDA’s website:
7a. How can I purchase over-the-counter Plan B?
In order to purchase Plan B over-the-counter, personal identification showing proof of age (18) is required. Plan B will be available behind the counter at the pharmacy in order to manage both prescription (17 years and under) and OTC (18 years and over) dispensing. This means Plan B will not be sold at gas stations or convenience stores, where other OTC products are routinely available.
7b. Can men purchase Plan B? (added 12/14/2006)
Yes. Plan B OTC is approved to allow OTC availability of Plan B for consumers 18 years and older. Plan B remains available by prescription only for women 17 years and younger.
We’re happy to hear that the second CVS store accepted the foreign ID, even though neither store was aware that it could be legally purchased by a man of legal age. You should talk to the head pharmacists at both stores and inform them of the FDA’s rules regarding Plan B. Also contact the store managers and let them know that the pharmacy is not operating within the FDA’s guidelines. If that doesn’t help then keep moving up the chain of command until the problem is acknowledged and corrected. You could also file a complaint with the California State Board of Pharmacy. It might sound like a lot of trouble but doing so will help ensure that others won’t have to endure similar headaches.
(Photo: Getty)
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@johnva:
I always figure these people take these jobs just so they can “witness” or “minister” to the “unsaved”. It’s nuts, but that’s what you get with a proselytizing religion.
This pharmacist might have morally objected to Plan B. I think any pharmacist who denies a customer of a plan B or any other product because of their own personal moral beliefs should be fired, have their license taken away and never work in the industry again.
The proper course would be to make a complaint to the state medical board.
This is what is known as a “ethical boundary violation”. It is enough to get the person who does it de-certified.
The twit who handed over a religious counseling center card instead of the drugs can have his cert. removed, and just opened the pharmacy he worked ( as well as himself ) for up to a lawsuit.
Yep … if some zealot wants to be martyred, then oblige him by doing your best to get him fired.
@kbarrett:
Indeed. It seems that offering religion instead of medicine is Christian Science …
[www.myfoxnewisconsin.com]
And that’s where that can get you.
Stupid. Stupid. Stupid f’n people. Goddamn. This CVS idiot dolt would be so fired. Oh so fired…
If people can use their religion, is it not right that Apple fanbois can use their morals to reject selling Microsoft products should they work at Target, or you know I don’t like pork so I can just refuse.
No, do your job or get another job. I know if I was the manager in such an incident there would be one warning and then one “Security, please escort this idiot out of the store”
Of course on the other hand, people were fired for standing up to Mortgage fraud. So yes its right to refuse to do something against the law. But you know the job before you signed up and working at Target is probably gonna include pork and working at a Pharmacy is gonna include Birth Control.
Wow, that’s just insane. Even if you are pro-life, getting the morning after pill isn’t an abortion, it’s prevention. Odds are, conception wouldn’t have occurred anyway. BUT it’s just more of a guarantee, for peace of mind… I find it a very responsible move, accidents happen. I would suggest checking out planned parenthood. Here in NY they were advertising on the radio free birth control AND Plan B packets, regardless of age. Sometimes, it’s just easier that way.
kali mama: absurdity is what America does best these days, unfortunately. I love this country, but it embarrasses the hell out of me sometimes.
It’s unfortunate the lengths that zealots will go to enforce their world view on others.
Do your damn job. It’s not like most cops enjoy shooting people, or IRS auditors get a kick out of ruining people’s lives, etc. Your employer pays you to perform a function. If that function conflicts with some ethical standard you have for yourself, QUIT. Nobody’s holding a gun to your empty, addle-brained head. You’re not getting paid to preach, you’re not getting paid to evangelize, you’re getting paid to be a PHARMACIST.
Disgusting.
I’m so glad that minors never get raped, have their contraception fail or (stupidly) have unprotected sex.
Is your seventeen-year-old sexually precocious and as smart as a stump?
Outlaw Plan B.
Phew! Problem solved!
The scary thing? These bad parents end up “winning” more, in a Darwinist sense. There’s irony in that, somewhere.
what next? the vegetarian at the grocery store is going to refuse to ring me up because i’m buying a steak?
@apotheosis: Yes. They should. If you can’t/won’t do the job, get another job and stop making life hell for other people. What if I were an engineer who believed that pi=3? Would you expect any company to keep me on in the name of religious tolerance? Would you buy a car knowing it was designed by engineers whose religious stupidity/insanity trumps basic mathematics and physical science?
Why, then, do people tolerate MDs, pharmacists, etc., who allow their religious stupidity/insanity to interfere with the performance of their duties?
Why do we continue to elect politicians who allow their religious stupidity/insanity to interfere with the performance of their duties?
Why do we continue to retain teachers who allow their religious stupidity/insanity to interfere with the performance of their duties?
Enough of this shit. I thought this country was enlightened or something. It’s no better in many ways than the godforsaken sand piles we send our benighted troops to.
@LJKelley: A big problem with allowing people to use religion as an excuse to refuse job duties is that you can make up anything and claim it’s your religious belief. Religion is subjective and not objectively verifiable. So that could become a blanket excuse people could use to refuse any job duty they want. Laws trying to protect pharmacists who do this stuff are even worse, because they are specifically privileging a certain religious belief over others, and could lead to more and more religion getting enshrined into law as acceptable behavior.
Ignoring all the moral, ethical and legal discussion: I’ve heard Dr. Drew on Loveline recommend several times that anyone who thinks they could need Plan B in the future (such as any sexually active couple who doesn’t want to get pregnant) should go ahead and buy it BEFORE they need it. Just keep it in your medicine cabinet and then, if you ever have a problem, you won’t have to worry about driving around to pharmacies and dealing with uncooperative pharmacists while the clock is ticking. There’s no law that says you have to have already had unprotected sex before you can buy the pill.
The problem here isn’t one of what’s legal. It’s one of what’s ethical. While the pharacist’s personal ethics might say that abortion is wrong, the ethical guidelines for pharmacology require her to act in the best interests of the patient and to respect that the beliefs of the patient may differ from her own.
Code of Ethics:
[www.uspharmd.com]
The fact that she is also bound by her conscience and duty to society suggests that she can deny the request, but the guidelines strictly state that she has to direct the patient to another health care professional.
This kind of action shouldn’t get you fired from the job or arrested. It should make you lose your accreditation as a pharmacist.
@Propaniac: That is EXCELLENT advice. I agree that it’s a good idea to buy it in advance.
@verucalise: The morning after pill works by preventing the fertilized egg from embedding in the uterine wall. Since fertilization has already happened, conception has occurred. Since conception has occurred, it’s an abortion.
@radleyas: @johnva: @DoubleEcho: @jswilson64:
Nice of you all to decide that the patient’s right (to receive medicine) trumps the pharmacist’s right (to not participate in what (s)he feels is abortion). Thanks for making that decision for us.
For someone uber-religious retail pharmacist who has been practicing 20+ years, this wasn’t an issue when (s)he graduated. But you’re right, they should just be burned at the stake for this. :rolls eyes:
Non-righteous indignation: The Consumerist Message Boards Trademark since 2007.
@apotheosis: I think in this case it is the job of the pharmacist to dispense medications, end of story. This has nothing to do with their moral dilemma. If they want to run a business and refuse customers on moral ground, that’s great. But if you’re working for a big chain like CVS then you should be doing your job and if you can’t do it then you should leave.
@DaChicken:
Wrong.
Most of the time, it’s believed that the morning after pill works by preventing ovulation. No fertilization takes place in that case (you’re aware, aren’t you, that fertilization does not take place during sex?). It’s been hypothesized that it also may infrequently work by the mechanism you describe, but there’s little hard evidence of that (this is quite difficult to study, since these things take place at a microscopic level). Also, that’s also true of normal birth control pills, so if the morning after pill = abortion, so does the Pill. Regardless, medically you are not considered pregnant until after implantation.
Also, it’s a subjective religious belief that preventing a fertilized egg from embedding in the uterine wall is an abortion. That’s only true if you believe that “life begins at conception”, which is not a scientific belief but a philosophical one.
@MBPharmD: I don’t think this is a question of forcing people to do anything, but morals can’t always come into play. Would it be OK for a pharmacist to refuse medication to a homosexual HIV infected man because he feels homosexuality is wrong and HIV is the consequence of their lifestyle? Although they don’t take the Hippocratic oath, I feel that people in the medical field have a moral obligation to assist the customer/patient in whatever way possible.
@MBPharmD: A pharmacist refusing to dispense infringes on the rights of the patient much more than a patient requesting a filled prescription infringes on the rights of the pharmacist. The pharmacist, after all, is not the one making the moral decision to use it. If it makes you feel better, you can rationalize it as you don’t have a choice (because you wouldn’t if the alternative was being fired). I agree that there is a bit of a conflict of rights here. But you don’t have a right to infringe on other people’s rights as part of your own belief.
And after all, this is a LEGAL drug. If you don’t like that, try to get it outlawed (along with regular birth control, which you should also be opposed to if you’re opposed to Plan B). I just suspect you won’t succeed because society rejects your views, for the most part.
@MBPharmD:
Oh please! Medicine is an evolving science. If you’re into that idea, you shouldn’t be part of the process. Stop standing in the way of progress. If you don’t care for the way the business is going, perhaps it’s time to seek another job.
You aren’t a doctor and have no right to dictate what the patient needs. Frankly, it’s none of your business. Just fill the orders. If it becomes impossible for you, do something else. But don’t you dare deny a person the right to medical care.
@MBPharmD: Re-reading your post, I’m not sure if I understand whether you support the “right” of pharmacists to refuse medication on moral grounds or if you’re just talking about hypothetical situations. I apologize if I’m ascribing view to you that you don’t hold.
But as for your situation of a religious pharmacist who got into the field 20 years ago when Plan B didn’t exist…well, birth control existed. And since Plan B is just high-dose birth control for one-time use, I don’t see how it’s much different. I don’t see any reason why the religious should be more opposed to Plan B than to regular BC. Are they just afraid to come out against all hormonal contraception for fear that the public will not side with them? If you’re going to push a radical agenda, be open about it.
@radleyas:
Rather, if you’re NOT into that idea …
We need edit buttons!!!!
@apotheosis: That is a violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act. Accomodating a guide dog is a reasonable accomodation — it doesn’t cost the driver any extra to do it nor does he have to pay a lot of money to make his cab dog-friendly.
Violate the ADA? Congratulations, you’re now likely going to be on the wrong end of a fat lawsuit, and possibly fired by the cab company you work for.
No sympathy from me, as someone who has a disability that is protected under said law (no guide dog, though).
@MBPharmD: You made the decision when you took the job. You aren’t doing your job when you arbitrarily get high and mighty on customers — it’s that simple. You’re paid to dispense medication according to physician instructions.
@Buran: (or DDA, as in this particular case)
Actually, I was told by a pharmacist that California state law is that men over 18 and women of ANY age can get Plan B from a pharmacist. ([www.prochoicecalifornia.org])
I don’t care about ethical, religious, other whatever excuse people come up with for not doing the job they are paid to do. If it is legal, you damn well better sell it to me or service me (err, you know what I mean). Period. I don’t intend on being inconvenienced because of your personal hang-ups.
I have no problem filing suit against a pharmacist/store for breaking the law by not selling me Plan B. Or a suit against a cabbie who won’t pick me up because I am holding a case of Bud Light. Enough of this politically correct crap is enough!
I am never going to be a fireman because I cannot lift their pound requirement, even though it’s kinda not fair me being a petite woman and all. I am sure the heavy person burning up in the fire will appreciate the FF Dept not accommodating my particular physical limitation.
Do your damn job or find something else to do. There are plenty of other jobs you can do that don’t involve servicing the public, or coming into contact with pork, or selling Plan B. Many people who are out of work and looking for jobs so they can feed their families will be more than happy to sell pork, Plan B birth control, or drive the whole Budweiser Clydesdale team around if need be.
People, please. If you’re sending in a story like this include the offending employee’s name, the store’s address, phone number, and if possible the manager’s name. There’s no point making the story public if you don’t want the public to do something about it.
As it is, you’re just whining for no reason.
I’m glad Plan-B is over the counter but as one of the few people who watched Veronica Mars all I think about is how easy it would be to prevent a child you didn’t want that was possibly developing in someone else. The episode also said Plan-B was given in private at a facility. Times have changed. Also, isn’t Plan-B more of a preventative measure than what the ‘moralists’ depict it as (abortive)?
So what I’m getting here is that CVS hires pharmacists who aren’t well educated when it comes to local law and are generally more interested in shoving their belief system at you than doing their job.
So, basically, avoid CVS at all costs.
@MBPharmD: Very few people who object to Plan-B on religious grounds are going to be ok with regular birth control pills either. As those have been widely available since the early 1970′s, it’s unlikely that there are many pharmacists practicing today who had no warning that they may be in the position of dispensing such. So your example of someone who has been practicing 20+ years just doesn’t hold up.
In fact, the fact that birth control pills exist at all should be ample warning that medical advances may include morally-uncomfortable possibilities. If you want to be a pharmacist, you simply need to take that into account.
Ummmm…. are we forgetting something? This is plan B, and if you don’t take it right away, you get pregnant. This pharmacist should be fired immediately for being a lawsuit liability. By “misinterpreting” the law, she is causing physical harm to someone. CVS can easily be sued.
@phexerian
“No need to have someone’s license suspended over a matter this small. You wouldn’t want to hurt someone financially over a matter like this? I wouldn’t.”
Well, now let’s look at it from another perspective. Let’s say that a pregnancy did result from this PharmD’s refusal to dispense. Ever look at the COST of pregnancy and raising a child? It is rather expensive…especially if you don’t have insurance. Or better yet, the cost of an abortion? To find a clinic, come up with the money to have one ($400-1,200), the time off work and the time spent making the decision (that is priceless…).
So either the PharmD can shut his/her yap and fork the meds over and mind their own business, or the PharmD can accept responsibility for the cost of childbirth/parenthood or an abortion – neither of which is a trivial, small, financial (or emotional) matter.
What’s next? Refusal to dispense medication to treat STD’s? HIV/AIDS? Smoking illness?
If you have “moral opposition” to any part of your job…it’s time to find a new job. Even moreso in the field of medicine. Your “moral standards” could wind up inflicting a lot of NEEDLESS pain, and life-altering consequences, on your patients.
“we had an “accident” with our condom” … ie: my “friend” left it in Colombia.
Before everyone gets up in arms… There is such a thing as a pharmacist’s right to refuse birth control and emergency contraception if they have a moral objection to it. Perhaps this one in particular had that view and was just using supposed laws to cover her moral objection? Here’s somethign I found regarding the individual state laws: one from a pharmacist association: [www.aafp.org]
Wrong link. This is the state law one: [www.ncsl.org]
@hexychick:
To quote your own link:
“California pharmacists have a duty to dispense prescriptions and can only refuse to dispense a prescription, including contraceptives, when their employer approves the refusal and the woman can still access her prescription in a timely manner.”
So, I don’t think the rule was used.
@hexychick: Somehow I’m guessing that if that was actually the pharmacist’s objection that those laws would protect him or her if she lied about the reason. You probably have to be truthful about your reason for refusing to fill it in order to be covered by those shield laws. BTW, those laws are pure pandering to religious fundamentalists.
@brettt: I know everyone calls plan b the “morning after” pill, but in all reality you can take it up to 72 hours after sex…it’s just that the sooner you take it, the better.
@hexychick: that is very disturbing, and i never understood why people with such amazingly huge conflicts of interest would continue with their jobs – and honestly I can’t believe it’s legal but it is. At least some of them are referring their patients/customers to other pharmacies and doctors that will sell/prescribe it to them. The ones that don’t really need to consider a change in jobs. The other problem is that depending on where you live there might be way more pharmacists unwilling to sell you birth control or EC. It sucks for women, especially because EC isn’t easy to order online in time.
I’m always insanely paranoid that this will happen, so I always just get a free pack of Plan B from planned parenthood when I go to just keep around until the expiration date, when I get another free pack and keep it around for a couple years, repeat. And I always use condom+nuvaring if I sleep with a guy, so when I need it it’s not cause I was being irresponsible or ignorant.
The one and only time I’ve used Plan B to date was when I was with a guy who was allergic to latex and we used poly condoms, which tend to be looser than usual..and it slipped off. But we realized it happened pretty fast. Maybe I’m too paranoid. Nuvaring is something like 99% effective..I just wanted to cover my ass.
@lesbiansayswhat: i have no idea why prolifers like to think that the pill and emergency contraceptives like plan b are abortifacients. They aren’t. It’s pretty damn clear to anyone who’s read the packaging for Plan B that if you’re already pregnant, it won’t help you at all.
Your belief in some flying spaghetti monster does not allow you to only prescribe drugs that have been approved by said flying spaghetti monster.
This great country was founded on the principle of the separation between flying spaghetti monsters and state.
Get a new job if you can’t handle it.
BTW the day after pill is the same thing as taking 3 birth control pills at once. (not the placebos)
@MBPharmD: Damn straight it does. If you’re being asked to do something in your job that you feel is unethical/immoral, you should take that up with your management instead of imposing your dissatisfaction on your customer. Or find another job.
You’re free to open your own pharmacy and only dispense the meds you feel are “right.” More power to you. But while you work for someone else who decided their business would stock the legal, regulated med, you dispense the meds according to the applicable laws and regs.
How much does Plan B retail for? About five years ago, before it was OTC, just getting it at Planned Parenthood cost $55 (because I “wasn’t a member”). I ended up going to some county program and getting it for $7.
@nuttycakes: The pro-lifers would say that you aren’t pro-choice, you’re anti-life.
Whether I do or do not agree with you doesn’t matter here- think about both approaches before you try to pigeonhole with terminology. You’ll end up making a lot more people angry than you bring to your side.
@eblack:
You want to expose somebody to the vitriolic hatred of certain dangerous types that DO crawl the internet looking for articles like this?
I think if somebody’s going to ask for somebody’s name and place of employment on here, they had better be ready to post their own first.
Giving the location of the store is enough. Asking for the employee’s name on top of it without revealing your own is cowardly.
@DaChicken:
Think about this question:
Is a woman pregnant when an egg is fertilized?
No. She’s not pregnant until the zygote implants in the uterus. Ergo, if PlanB prevents implantation it is a contraceptive, not an abortaficient.
If you believe PlanB = abortion that’s fine but it’s your belief, not a statement of fact.
@vladthepaler: Wait, they can’t recognize a Colombian State Issued ID, but they would recognize a Colombian State Issued Passport?…