Pharmacist Refuse To Pill: A Case Study

The article that I have found is about a pharmacist who refuse to fill a prescription for birth control. This happened on July 26, 2002 where a University of Wisconsin-Stout student went K-Mart to fill her birth control prescription. The only pharmacist that was on duty that day was Mr. Neil Noesen, a Roman Catholic member. He asked the student if she intended tom use the prescription for contraception. So when the women confirmed that, Mr. Neil refused to fill the prescription for her, explaining that using a birth control pill is like you are doing an abortion, which against his religious beliefs. In addition, the pharmacist refused to transfer the prescription or tell her where she can go get her prescription filled. Apparently, Mr. Neil has told K-mart district manager prior the employment that he will not dispense contraceptives, but he did not mention that he will not refer or transfer the prescription. The lady filed a complaint with the Wisconsin Department of Regulation and Licensing's Pharmacy Examining Board. According to the administrative law judge’s statement, the ordinary standard of care requires that if a pharmacist refuses to fill a prescription for religious purposes, he or she needs to make sure that there is an alternative …show more content…
I will agree with the judge’s decision. The situation in which the pharmacist was, present ethical challenge. He believes that filling the prescription will hurt his personal value, but at the same time refusing to transfer the prescription could also harm the woman. If we refer to the Utilitarian approach, which is based on the greatest outcome and the least harm (Doherty and Purtilo, Pg.92), I think the pharmacist should present another alternative to the woman so that she can have her prescription fill. This will result the greatest outcome, because education is the “key”. She might become a doctor and take care of many