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Dear supporter,
The Pharmacy Board's Last Public Comment Period is
THIS MONTH.
TELL the Washington
State Board
of Pharmacy they should approve the current
rules with no changes!
Ensure prescriptions are not refused. Support the
rules
outlawing it.
We urge you to take
action on this issue ONE MORE TIME.
The Last Public Hearing is on March
29th. The Last Public Testimony is March
23rd.
How You Can
Help:
1) PROVIDE IN PERSON,
PUBLIC TESTIMONY ON MARCH 29, 2007 AT
9:15AM
at the Renton
Community
Center located at 1715 Maple Valley
Highway, Renton
WA.
2) SUBMIT
WRITTEN COMMENTS BY MARCH 23,
2007
by visiting the
Department of Health's Rules
Comments webpage at http://www3.doh.wa.gov/policyreview/ . Comments may also be sent to the Board via
electronic mail box at WSBOP@doh.wa.gov or by fax to (360)
586-4359.
Most pharmacists take seriously their legal
and ethical obligation to properly fill prescriptions and ensure
timely access to needed medications. However, some
Washington pharmacists wish to force their personal beliefs on
patients, denying men and women access to needed medical care,
and a few extremists are still trying to help them by preventing
the Board of Pharmacy from passing these two good rules - one
that addresses pharmacy duties and one that addresses pharmacist
responsiblities.
Your comments will assure that the Board sees that the
majority of Washingtonians believe that refusing to fill a
valid
prescription
is not acceptable and
that this
rule
must be
become law in Washington.
**Messaging/Talking Points**
- Thank you for issuing draft rules that
succeed in protecting the health care needs of patients while
respecting the professionalism of pharmacists.
- I support these rules.
- Please adopt the proposed rules without
changes.
- The proposed rules successfully address the
concerns of both pharmacists and patients.
- Public health and the health care needs of
our communities must be paramount. This is a public health
issue – Washingtonians need to be able to access
their needed medications.
- Under the leadership of the Board of
Pharmacy and the Governor, Washington State is now moving
forward with a rule that ensures patients and will have access
to their needed medications when they go to the pharmacy
counter. This rule also allows a pharmacy owner to
accommodate an individual pharmacist, when appropriate, as long
as the patient receives their medication without discrimination
or delay.
- The duty of every pharmacy is to ensure
that customers receive needed drugs in order to protect and
promote public health and safety.
- The Pharmacist’s Oath says that
pharmacists have a solemn duty to “assure optimal drug
therapy outcomes for the patient.” Pharmacists are
in a profession where they have assumed the responsibility to
put the needs of the patient first. This proposed rule
further supports and strengthens that duty.
- Pharmacist refusals are a real problem in
Washington. Men and
women in Washington have been denied
access to vital medications by pharmacists. More
individuals are stepping forward with their refusal
stories.
- This issue is much broader than
an individual’s right to access available methods of
contraception. It also addresses other discriminatory
conduct like a pharmacy refusing to dispense anti-retroviral
drugs to an HIV positive patient on the basis of objecting to
(perceived) homosexuality, for example, or refusing to provide
drugs following a blood transfusion because they object to that
particular medical procedure.
- The Department of Health's Small Business
Impact statement is unclear and confusing, and does not clearly
state that it is the duty of a pharmacy to fill all legal, safe
and valid prescriptions
THANK YOU FOR
TAKING ACTION ON THIS IMPORTANT ISSUE!
IF YOU NEED
MORE INFORMATION ABOUT ATTENDING THE HEARING, PLEASE
CONTACT Amy at 206.861.7514 or Louise at
206.320.7651
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