Something else to get pissed off about

[wendyzski]

Apparently there is growing phenomenon of some pharmacists and even doctors who are refusing to fill prescriptions for birth control on the grounds that a possible effect of them (preventing implantation of a possibly fertilized egg) is morally objectionable to them.

The article from Prevention Magazine is here.

With the trend towards more use of managed health plans, it seems to me that this is very likely to limit many women's access to birth control of any kind, if their primary care physician decided that they won't deal with this, and it takes the woman time to arrange to switch PCPs. Also, there is the huge issue of women taking oral contraceptives for a variety of other medical reasons. I sure don;t think it's the pharmacist's business why I am taking any particular medication.

Thank the gods that Illinois has a law that insurance companies MUST cover birth control at the same rates as other medications.

Yet another reason to count the days until November....

Comments

[that-david.livejournal.com]

Wow. Has to make you wonder why some folks just don't do their jobs (filling 'scripts in this case) and let the people who are taking them make the decision. This is the equivalent of stating "You're to stupid to know what you need (and possibly your Dr. as well), but fortunately for you I know what I'm doing."

Unfortunately, this way of thinking about psychotropic meds is not uncommon. There are psychiatrists (Dr. Thomas Szacz (sp?)) who firmly believe that "mental illnesses" have no organic basis and are the result of the cultural ideals. This despite an overwhelming amount of information that some forms of mental illness are either exclusively organic, or have a very high degree of organicity.

I was always taught that no amount of therapy is going to touch the core of an organically driven problem (other than to help the individual recognize when its occurring so they can take their meds), nor are meds going to help with a problem behavior (other than blunting the behavior to give them time to learn to adapt).

[wendyzski.livejournal.com]

I was always taught that no amount of therapy is going to touch the core of an organically driven problem (other than to help the individual recognize when its occurring so they can take their meds

Ding ding ding! You win a prize! Therapy taught me coping strategies and the importance of monitoring, but I do still need the meds.

Wow - Is "organicity" a word? It certainly sounds impressive!

And when are your gonna get your own journal, PHD-man?

[jfc013.livejournal.com]

Pssst! He DOES. (check the username line) Maybe he doesn't have anything to say yet! :)

[that-david.livejournal.com]

Yep, that's actually a word used by psychologists/psychiatrists, although it is one of the larger denominations.

And Janet's right, I do have one now. Got it on the 20th. All of two posts to date. Whee...