Walgreens pharmacist denies mother miscarriage medicine because of moral objection (AZ)

[DesertRat]

Nicole Arteaga wanted nothing more than to be a mother again.

But doctors gave the 35-year-old mother heartbreaking news during her 10-week pregnancy checkup.
The baby's development had stopped. There was no heartbeat. The pregnancy would end with a miscarriage — a pain Arteaga has faced before.

Grieving, Arteaga went to her local Walgreens in Peoria on Thursday to pick up medication prescribed by a doctor to manage her health and the miscarriage by terminating the pregnancy.

Instead, Arteaga was turned away, without the medicine she needed.

A Walgreens pharmacist refused to fill the prescription, she said.

“I don't have control over my body and I don’t have control of the situation," Arteaga said. "I was seeking help for the medication I needed and he refused.

https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/peoria/2018/06/23/z-arizona-walgreens-pharmacist-denied-mother-miscarriage-medicine-because-personal-beliefs/727805002

[njhoneybadger]

1. Then he's in the wrong fucking job. This bullshit needs to stop

[Crutchez_CuiBono]

5. The moral majority AFTER you and your doctor agree on your treatment. Good grief.

[renate]

6. exactly

I actually don't mind too much about bakers refusing to bake wedding cakes for same-sex couples. I'd pick a Democratic plumber over a MAGA one, etc etc.

But a pharmacist has a license and has moral and legal obligations to fulfill. If he doesn't like it, he is free to give up his license, not to make a patient go without medicine that was prescribed for her.

[Blue_true]

21. In addition, it was NOT his pharmacy, he is an employee. nt

[NastyRiffraff]

70. Yes, I want to hear what Walgreens has to say

If they agree with the pharmacist, they should close their doors.

[DesertRat]

47. I couldn't agree more!

[SharonClark]

2. Kick for exposure.

[TheBlackAdder]

84. Well, everyone bail on Walgreens. I'm sure CVS, Rite-Aid, and the hundreds of other pharmacies will.

.

Walgreens prices are kind of on the high side anyway.

You'll do better at most supermarket or other chain pharmacies anyway. Once you leave, never go back!

.

[MrScorpio]

3. Fucking fetus worshippers, they even worship the dead and dying ones

But if they’re born, we all know that they wouldn’t give a shit about the babies.

[treestar]

18. Yes, what the heck is the objection here?

If the fetus has died, it's not ending a life. Now they don't want any miscarriage to take place with any help?

I would think they were against inducing birth too (when baby hasn't come after 9 months).

[kag]

22. There is an answer, and it sucks.

First, let me tell you, I know from experience. I have a condition that caused me to have seven miscarriages sprinkled before, between, and after my two children were born. My docs and I had long conversations about what was happening, the medical information, and the politics surrounding it.

So, the reason the bible thumpers will give is that there is no way to tell for "absolute certain" that the fetus is no longer alive. If they can't find a heartbeat, maybe it's just weak or "hiding" or something. If the baby isn't growing, perhaps it is "just" a defect or the date of conception is off, or something.

Now, these arguments are, for all intents and purposes, bullshit with today's technology and medicine, but that doesn't keep the fetus freaks from using it.

Any woman who makes the decision to allow the miscarriage to happen "naturally" risks a bloody, painful mess at home along with infection or...worse. Any woman who gets assistance from her doctor risks having to deal with a world full of sanctimonious shitheads telling her she's being sinful...or worse. I experienced both.

So, yeah, they have an answer for everything, and just don't care if that answer is idiotic. As in all things RWNJ, they never let the facts get in the way of persecuting someone over whom they feel superior.

[Kittycow]

32. That's terrible.

I hope you don't mind a hug.

Thanks for explaining that so that we may have a more clear idea of what's going on and its ramifications. It's so easy to talk in abstracts and not real life..

[kag]

44. Thanks for the hug, Kittycow.

I can talk about it now after years of therapy and healing. Thanks for the kind words. It helps.

[Laffy Kat]

33. I know! I had a doctor that sent me home after my fetus died at almost 10 weeks...

To have a natural miscarriage and ended up hemorrhaging and being taken to two different hospitals by two different ambulances. It was traumatic and I was afraid I would not live to raise the three-year old I already had. I wanted to have a D&C as soon as I knew the fetus was dead, but the NP I saw said it would be healthier for both my body and mind if I let nature take care of it. Right.

[Bettie]

42. First

Thanks for your insight into this topic.

Second, sorry for your losses...miscarriages are hard, had three myself and a full-term stillbirth.

[kag]

43. Thank you, and back at you.

My mom, who was dealing with the same issues I did, had a full-term stillbirth. Back then no one knew about this condition (it's a chromosome translocation). In fact, once I was diagnosed, we learned that my brother has the same thing, and my SIL wound up having even more miscarriages than I did.

[treestar]

45. OMG

They are truly reprehensible. And nothing like it ever happened to them, which of course, is what it takes for them to get a clue. Always willing to have someone else suffer.

[Nonhlanhla]

52. That happened to me too

I had 2 natural miscarriages, and 2 that had to be removed surgically. With one, I was at 11 weeks when they found no heartbeat, but the gyno queried whether perhaps the conception date was off and maybe that was why there was no heartbeat. I had to remind her that I had been at her office a month prior with a confirmed pregnancy of 7 weeks, so obviously the date was not off. So we scheduled surgery (D&C, or scraping of the uterus to remove the dead pregnancy) for the next day. I still ended up starting to bleed the pregnancy out that same afternoon, prior to the scheduled D&C, and ended up in the ER with terrible hemorrhaging which ended up in emergency surgery in the middle of the night. All I could think of that long night was how much I wanted to go home to my then 18 month old daughter and husband. At that point all I wanted was for the dead pregnancy to get OUT.

[pandr32]

4. What is Walgreen's policy?

They carry the item...right?

[sarah FAILIN]

46. I think they allow the pharmacist to 'punt'

In this case he sent the prescription to a nearby Walgreens pharmacy which let's him think his hands are clean and the company allows. Myself, I would have sold it to her.
What he should have done if he was so set against selling it is to tell her he didn't have it in stock but the store around the corner does and they are getting it ready for her to pick up right now. He didn't have to be an ass.
We have 2 Walgreens pharmacies inside of a mile of each other. I guess this is why.

[NYC Liberal]

72. "What he should have done..."

The reason he didn’t do that is because it’s not about an actual, genuine belief but a need to assert and show off his moral superiority.

[sarah FAILIN]

82. True

Assholes are gonna be assholes.

[DesertRat]

48. Walgreens said in a statement Saturday...

that pharmacists are allowed to step away from filling a prescription anytime they have a moral objection under company policy.
Employees are required to refer the prescription to another pharmacist or manager to ensure the needs of the patient are met "in a timely manner."

Arteaga explained that there were other pharmacists at the Walgreens when the man denied filling her prescription, yet he did not refer her medical needs to another employee.

"We are looking into the matter to ensure that our patients' needs are handled properly," the statement said.

A representative for Walgreens said someone reached out to Arteaga to apologize for how the situation was handled.

[pandr32]

66. Thank you

What I don't understand is why they hire pharmacists who might "have a moral objection" to products carried in their store, and for which a person has a legal prescription. Perhaps those discriminatory pharmacists should work in their own pharmacies that clearly post their narrow-mindedness at the door, or find another type of job.

[DesertRat]

71. I copied that from the linked article

There's quite a bit more info. in the story than I could post in the OP.

[pandr32]

79. I will open the link

[exboyfil]

77. State law

You have to be careful because it is an exception to employment at will.

Walgreens should have a policy in place that makes this whole interaction invisible to the customer. Violation of that process should be grounds for dismissal. The pharmacist should never announce that they have a moral objection to fulfilling an order.

"Arizona laws specifically allow pharmacies and pharmacists to refuse to fill a prescription for religious or moral reasons."


I think it is a crappy law.

[pandr32]

78. Agreed ("crappy law")

[herding cats]

7. This is horrific.

When it reaches the point a woman cannot get medication for a no longer viable fetus, the only alternative is a D&C. Which has far greater risks to her health not to mention is much more expensive.

[sinkingfeeling]

8. Why do these people love fetuses more than living, breathing people?

One of the prime reasons I became an atheist is their misplaced moral high horse.

[MustLoveBeagles]

9. Ugh

Having had a miscarriage with my first pregnancy and having tried unsuccessfully to conceive again, I can understand her anguish. We're seen as incubators not people by a significant portion of the populous. How humiliating for her to be forced to explain her situation in such a public setting. How awful that she had to go through this. She has my sympathies.

[Tucker08087]

11. I had 3 myself

Each was devastating. I went for an ultrasound to try to find a reason, and the tech read on my medical form: Number of pregnancies:3 Number of live births: 0.
She lowered the paper and asked, in what I can only describe as a matronly, accusatory way, “So what happened there? And now you’re looking for help getting pregnant?” I was already grief-stricken. I said, “I miscarried. As far along as 5 months.” Again with the accusatory tone which now also carried a “don’t bother lying because I know you have sinned tone,” she said “All THREE?” She might as well have come right out and said, “Liar! I’m sure you chose to terminate a few.” I replied, “Yes, all three, and probably more. I won’t take the pregnancy test anymore unless I’m two months late.” Tears streamed when I said, “I just can’t stand to know that another of my babies has died.” I will say that I saw remorse on this woman’s face. She sat down on her stool and said, “I don’t know what to say. I’m just so sorry.” In that moment, I believed that she meant for the pain I had been through as well as the pain she had caused me. People don’t understand the pain that miscarriage causes, more so for some people than others. These people insist that the fetus is a life. Allow the parents the respect and kindness to mourn the death of their child just as if the death occurred after a live birth without imposing ridiculous hurdles, accusations, and shaming.

[Sophia4]

19. Thanks for telling your story.

The only way to change the attitudes of these ultra-right, ignorant people is for those of us who have trouble carrying babies to tell our stories.

Thanks so much.

[kag]

24. So sorry for all of your pain.

I posted my own story upthread, and know the kind of looks and comments you talk about. And you're right--people don't understand the grief and loss a woman suffers when she loses a hoped-for pregnancy.

Thinking warm thoughts for you, and for the woman in the news story.

[smirkymonkey]

36. I'm so sorry for your experience.

Medical personnel should not be in the business of passing judgement. They are there to provide healthcare, period. I hope all went well with your last pregnancy.

BTW, Welcome to DU!

[Tucker08087]

59. Thank you!

I adopted a baby who has grown into an amazing, brilliant, unique, funny (I could go on...) 15 year old young man. The pain fades in my memory when I think that this is the road that brought me to him. I hear the pain of childbirth also fades due to love for the child. In both cases, the pain is worth it!

[smirkymonkey]

61. I am glad your story turned out to be a happy one!

My best to you and your son!

[MustLoveBeagles]

40. I'm sorry you went through that

She should have kept her judgments to herself, but at least she had the ability to feel shame for what she had done to you. Most these days wouldn't have. People just don't what it's like unless they've experienced it themselves. Mine happened at home with no medical intervention. I wouldn't go to the hospital fearing we'd get a huge bill later that we couldn't pay. My future husband and I had just moved in together and our finances were precarious. He took care of me over the next several days. I missed two days of work. I've been to a fertility specialist recently that can help us and I was fortunate that the staff was kind to me. My husband is nervous about us going through this because our ages.

On a happier note welcome to DU.

[Tucker08087]

60. Thanks for the welcome!

I went through 15 years of fertility treatments and miscarriages. As I posted above, I ended up adopting. If you ever want to talk about the treatments or the possibility of adoption, or just need to talk, please let me know. The good news is, if you have insurance, many fertility treatments are covered now. They were not when I was trying. In fact, my maternity leave of absence request was also denied because (and I’m quoting because it still burns a whole in my heart) “You didn’t do anything.” Most businesses and insurance policies now consider the birth of a newborn sufficient to grant leave.

[MustLoveBeagles]

86. I'll be PM'ing you sometime this weekend

[Tucker08087]

87. Feel free!

[More_Cowbell]

10. I cut up my Walgreens card and am mailing it to their corporate headquarters on Monday

No more Walgreens for me.

[not fooled]

16. Yep

me too.

[Algernon Moncrieff]

67. I doubt Walgreens corporate is thrilled by this.

Pharmacists can't take it upon themselves to decide whether or not to sell birth control, opioids (unless abuse is suspected), viagra, or whatever else they may object to. Walgreens is in the business of filling prescriptions. The pharmacist will likely be disciplined or fired.

[NoMoreRepugs]

12. Looking forward to following the lawsuit.

[RockRaven]

13. The regulating bodies of pharmacies and pharmacists need to include in their licensing standards

that you will perform your duties without reference to your personal moral standards, or you don't get licensed (maybe they do already, but this story is here so I guess not). If your objections are based on science, safety, professional judgement, experience? Okay, then don't dispense it immediately, call the prescribing doctor/PA/NP and talk it out. But moral objections? Bye-bye license.

Look, pharmacists do need to exercise judgment and not just be automatons -- that's another layer of the safety-net of how prescribing mistakes, potential drug interactions, and unnecessary cost-overruns get caught and patients avoid harm (both physical and financial). But your moral objections are irrelevant to your duty to the patients (aka customers) and if you have any interfering ones then you should work in a different field.

This refusal is potentially harmful to this woman, with absolutely no effect on the FACT that this fetus will never progress to anything other than a miscarriage. THIS IS MALPRACTICE.

[MagickMuffin]

14. One alternative would be to visit the county hospital they should have a pharmacy

I know it is a hassle but these hospital pharmacies are not going to deny someone their medication.

I hope Walgreen's HQ's sets a new policy and if the pharmacist can't uphold that policy then show them the door.

[Jake Stern]

31. State law specifically protects pharmacists right to refuse based on conscience

Company policy cannot override that.

Only removing conscience laws will stop this.

[maxrandb]

38. Then the corporation, Walgreens in this case

didn't fight against this fucked up law hard enough.

I'm through giving companies a pass for this shitshow.

I want to see their political donations. If they gave a fucking penny to ANY God damned Retrumplican, they are complicit.

[bluestarone]

73. If company policy was turn it over to another Pharmicist, it WAS NOT followed so

They COULD FIRE this one, i feel!!

[mountain grammy]

15. Store management should be contacted

and above that if necessary. This man needs to be relieved of the job he's refused to do.

[Jake Stern]

30. They will be welcoming your business to pay off the multimillion dollar settlement

After they terminate him for actions that are protected by state law.

They are in an impossible position.

[FreeState]

80. No they could fire him today

He didn’t follow policy - he was required to refer her and did not.

[rustysgurl]

17. Walgreens Policy Used To Be ...

... that if a pharmacist would not fill a birth control or similar medication due to 'religious beliefs or personal convictions', then another pharmacist was supposed to step in and fill it. Or, if another pharmacist was not available, then that prescription should be transferred to another Walgreens where it would be filled.

My daughter was a senior pharm tech for them for almost 10 years. This was their policy as late as 2017.

[More_Cowbell]

23. The story says that's still their policy nt

[Blue_true]

20. Walgreens must fire his ass. That was not his decision.

If he wants, he can open his private pharmacy that serves only people that think like him.

[ailsagirl]

26. I've read about pharmacists refusing to dispense birth control pills

I remember it was a CVS and it was somewhere in the midwest

I was flabbergasted!!!!!

This was when W was president, BTW-- don't remember the year

[CountAllVotes]

54. CVS sucks!

They are just as evil as Walgreens!

They manipulated an RX I had. Before I picked it up, I noticed that half of the 90-day supply was not there!

I contacted my health care provider and she looked up the RX and instructed me that I was to never get an RX filled at CVS again as they were guilty of manipulating an RX and to go elsewhere.

So, now I go elsewhere and I also must pay a higher costs because the "new" pharmacy is not in the RX provider's "network". This trickle down sh*t isn't trickling down is it?

RE: the RX being filled = a "controlled" substance. Need I say more?

As for the woman in the story referenced, can she not file a complaint or sue the sh*t out of Walgreens dare one suggest?

[ailsagirl]

57. Wow-- that's pretty bad

[Jake Stern]

29. And I guarantee they'd get hit with a wrongful termination lawsuit

Arizona law specifically allows pharmacists to refuse to fill prescriptions that violate their conscience. Company policy cannot override that.

Walgreen's is in a no win situation: they'll lose business over this but if they were to terminate him they'll be paying out a ginormous settlement.

[Laffy Kat]

35. But the fetus was determined dead by a physician.

Why would there be an objection? This one needs to go to court to get sorted out, and I hope the company gets hit with punitive damages.

[Jake Stern]

49. The judiciary, especially SCOTUS

has been very friendly to "Religious Liberty" claims as of late and Walgreen's defense to a lawsuit would likely be something along the line how they have to abide by the conscience laws of Arizona.

While a jury may, in fact, award damages I see a higher court tossing the judgement on appeal.

[NutmegYankee]

56. They could fire him for not referring her to another pharmacist.

That part of company policy is not banned by law.

[caballojm]

25. That's the Walgreen's where I get my prescriptions filled including my monthly glaucoma drops.

Not anymore. I've been meaning to make the switch to Costco anyway.

[StarryNite]

28. You should tell them why you won't be using them.

Let them know that you are switching to a different pharmacy unrelated to Walgreen's. Don't tell them you were planning on switching before. They need to know their bullshit policy is going to cost them customers.

[ecstatic]

27. Those assholes forced me to go inside the store to purchase the fully legal,

no prescription required Plan B a few years ago. That was before it was fully OTC. Went to the drive through and the woman working said I'd have to come in the store to verify my identity or some crap--can't remember the exact excuse given. It was freezing outside and I wasn't dressed appropriately. SMH. I don't go to Walgreens for anything these days.

[pansypoo53219]

34. sharia by another name.

[get the red out]

37. Christian Pharmacy Student group

There is one at the University where I work, every time I hear of them I want to puke thinking about their primary purpose probably being learning how to harm women as much as they can upon graduation. "Christian" medical student associations can't possibly be about giving poor, marginalized Christians a group to call their own, in my red state 90% of students are probably Christian!

[maxrandb]

39. Christianity is not the problem

It's their warped view of Christianity.

[Bettie]

41. If you can not or will not perform the duties of your job

you should be in another field.

A pharmacist's job is to dispense medications. That is the job, literally, that is THE JOB.

Assohole made a very bad day even worse for this poor woman.

If your job is to bake cakes, you bake cakes, if your job is to fix cars, you fix them, and if your job is to fill prescriptions, then fill them.

Or get another job.

[mainer]

50. I bet he's OK filling prescriptions for viagra.

But women have to be made to suffer.

[Corgigal]

51. So we don't use Walgreens

on the morale grounds, that a person who will be probably be replaced by a machine in a few years is practicing without a license. They need us more then we need them.

[Freddie]

53. Boycott Walgreens

This also happened a few years ago and the pharmacist was not disciplined. I have not set foot in one since. Make it very public why you are transferring your prescription. Money talks when nothing else does.

[dlk]

55. The Right to Prohibit Abortion Includes the Right to Force Abortion-They Are the Same Authority

A little-known fact in this matter that is rarely discussed. Women will not become full citizens until they can control their own bodies without political interference. Until then, their rights are second-class or less.

[demigoddess]

58. so many of these men (and some women) don't understand the anatomy of a woman.

I had two miscarriages because of what they used to call a tipped uterus. A doctor, seeing this in my records, yelled at me for having 'abortions' which he was against and were illegal back then. The idiot doctor couldn't tell the difference between a miscarriage and a surgical abortion!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I would say write directly to the president of the company. I have done that in the past and got results. Wrote to the head of the AMA and the president of Sears and got some action. Could not find the name and address of president of Walgreens. Maybe someone else can find it and post.

[gtar100]

62. But don't worry, they'll give you all the opioids you need... with a look of concern, of course.

Is there a world out there where this shit doesn't go on? This world has an infection and it's symptoms include self-righteous right-wing conservative bullshit. And these assholes love to be in positions of control.

[Crunchy Frog]

69. Actually, people with legitimate opioid prescriptions

Are getting alot of crap, and having difficulty getting their scripts filled as well.

The morality police are everywhere.

[GaYellowDawg]

74. That's right, they are.

I was on a large dose of oxycodone earlier this year. People treated me as if I was an addict. The ironic thing is that it only partially reduced the pain, and I never got a high from it. When I found something else that almost completely killed the pain (antihistamines, it was an allergic reaction), I got off the oxycodone in about 3 weeks of tapering down. I am very lucky that I was able to do that.

[3catwoman3]

63. Oh, FFS - the fetus had already died.

Judgmental busybody. None of his business.

IMO, the ONLY opinion ANY man has ANY right to about ANY pregnancy is one that he helped create and one in which he intends to remain fully involved until the time the child of such pregnancy is a self-supporting young adult. Otherwise, butt the hell OUT!

[workinclasszero]

64. It's all leading to this folks...the GOP religious right's fever dream

[roamer65]

68. All abortion services and meds should be legal, widely available and free.

Any woman should be able to abort their pregnancy with zero resistance from anyone.

[flibbitygiblets]

75. Someone call Sara Huckleberry Slanders so she can share her outrage!

Imagine...people using their jobs and position to deny others the right to purchase legal and necessary products.

WHAT IS THIS, NAZI GERMANY???

[blueinredohio]

76. Call the main corporation and tell them this guy

needs to be fired. He's losing money for them so they may listen.

[Still In Wisconsin]

81. Twenty years ago, we learned our first baby had died before birth.

It was the most crushing moment in both of our lives, and remains so to this day. After receiving this news (no heartbeat could be heard, ultrasound confirmed fetal death after 37 weeks) my wife received a prescription to induce labor and end this horrible ordeal, so that healing could begin. Our son was stillborn, we named him Andrew, held him for a while, and then said our goodbyes. Two years after that we welcomed our first of three healthy daughters.

I cannot imagine- LITERALLY cannot imagine- what it would have been like to have some pharmacist refuse to fill that prescription. My wife would have been forced to live in that hell for as long as it took for her to go into labor naturally. I can't even imagine, and I pray none of our girls is ever in a position like this. My heart goes out to Ms. Arteaga, and suffice to say I will NEVER use Walgreens pharmacy again. Thankfully I have several other local options.

[dflprincess]

83. The only time a pharmacist should question a prescription is when the new drug

may interact badly with a drug the customer/patient is already taking - and then the pharmacist should call the doctor to let express the concerns. Other than those situations, a pharmacist has no business questioning what or why a doctor has written a prescription.

[DesertRat]

85. I couldn't agree more