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November 25, 2009

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Editorial: Honor all prescriptions

Monday, June 20, 2005 | 9:10 a.m.

There are increasing reports around the country of pharmacists who refuse to fill prescriptions for birth-control pills. Assemblywoman Chris Giunchigliani, D-Las Vegas, offered an amendment to a bill in the 2005 Legislature that would have jeopardized the license of any Nevada pharmacist imposing his personal view in this manner. Senate Republicans replaced the amendment with one that requires pharmacists to transfer the prescription to another pharmacy if they choose not to fill it.

But this forces more than an unfair inconvenience onto women. Giunchigliani points out that many medical plans restrict people as to where they can have their prescriptions filled. And in many rural areas, there may be only one pharmacy for miles around.

Pharmacists have a professional obligation to fill any legal prescription handed to them by customers. If their objections take hold, we might see grocery store clerks refusing to ring up beer, clothing store clerks refusing to sell form-fitting pants and bookstore clerks refusing to sell "The Da Vinci Code."

The 2007 Legislature should pass a bill based upon Giunchigliani's original amendment.

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