Actually, Allie, this is exactly what the recent bill is designed for. Many small towns in Kansas are sole proprietorships, and many of those are owned by the pharmacist. This law is designed so that pharmacist does not have to carry any prescription he does not want to carry. So, yes, if they have to go to a larger town or a chain, then that's what they'll have to do. You may think it's ridiculous, but that's what freedom of choice is all about - both for those who want the prescriptions and those who are to fill them.
I don't think this will affect the large chain pharmacies, since most have more than one pharmacist on staff and not all are going to be religious fanatics. So access to prescriptions will not be limited, per se. But those that refuse to carry certain medications are going to probably be identified by those that object to the bill and you'll see boycotts of those pharmacies. It may or may not have an affect on those businesses.
If I were a pharmacist, I would not object to filling either contraceptive prescriptions nor to filling prescriptions for RU-486, but I would not want to tell someone that they MUST fill those prescriptions.
Originally Posted by fritz3552
Actually, it goes a bit further than that. Although you are correct, the bill could also be viewed as legal protection of the pharmacies against lawsuit if they do not happen to carry everything that someone asks for. This is an impossible situation, I have even had CVS and Walgreens out of stock for some medications.
But, if they say they do not carry something like this, it could be a lawsuit.
Many years ago, I had some graduate courses that were the introduction to the legal aspects of prescription drugs, regulated chemicals and biologicals. The regulations of drugs, chemicals, biologicals, food, health food, water supplies, explosives, etc. (Should I go on?) is unbelievable. For the most part many of these regulations are necessary, even if they are a pain.
The complications are many. One will still be able to obtain what is needed, just not from the store you may want.
JR