A pharmacist isn't simply a merchant, but is also a medical professional. His profession is licensed and regulated by the government. Therefore, the government does have certain control over him, as it does over doctors. I think pharmacists should be obligated to fill prescriptions given by licensed doctors. If they don't want to maybe they shouldn't be in that profession. If you disagree with doctor-prescribed birth control pills than fight for their illegalization.
As you note, doctors are also licensed professionals. Should they be required to conduct operations they don't want to perform for moral reasons?
Sorry, but that argument went out with the Nuremberg Code. National Socialist doctors and others were executed for "just following orders."
The problem is that evereyone in the "professions" will just be following orders. In too many cases it seems they already are.
A medical professional with a post-graduate degree, not simply a pill-counter.
His profession is licensed and regulated by the government. Therefore, the government does have certain control over him, as it does over doctors. I think pharmacists should be obligated to fill prescriptions given by licensed doctors.
And if the doctor prescribes the wrong drug? It happens. That's one reason for their post-grad education and licensure; to ensure that a patient does not get a drug that is harmful to him. Pharmacists must have the freedom to make those decisions. If they dispense the wrong drug and a patient is harmed, they can be liable.
If they don't want to maybe they shouldn't be in that profession.
Should every professional who disagrees with a widespread practice quit their profession? That sounds dangerous to me. Many disastrous decisions have been exposed by objectors to the status quo. Also, contraceptive prescriptions are proabably such a small percentage of the average pharmacist's business that it is not something for which one should have to consider another line of work.
If you disagree with doctor-prescribed birth control pills than fight for their illegalization.
That would be a futile fight right now, but anyone is free to do so. Getting rid of the pharmacists who have this moral objection is not the answer.
"I think pharmacists should be obligated to fill prescriptions given by licensed doctors. If they don't want to maybe they shouldn't be in that profession. If you disagree with doctor-prescribed birth control pills than fight for their illegalization."
I completely agree. Running a pharmacy is a unique situation, where the average citizen is virtually required to obtain almost all of his or her medication via a licensed pharmacist (the other route would be obtaining drugs illegally, or going to Mexico or Canada). If a person has a moral objection to filling prescriptions, they shouldn't be a pharmacist.
actually, a pharmacist, like a nurse in the hospital, is a professional. They can disobey orders if not appropriate...for example, if a druggie comes in with a large prescription of Lortab or dilaudid from a local quack, the druggist can refuse to fill it...
I once had a young patient dying of cancer, who required huge doses of morphine to relieve pain...one nurse refused to give it, so I sat there and pushed in 10 mg morphine every ten minutes until he was comfortable, then we kept him on a slow drip titrated to keep him asleep/pain free but respiratory rate over 10...he died the next day, of pneumonia, not of an overdose...
Uh oh, you're bringing sanity to the discussion. Get ready!
I think the pharmacists has a little more say over the filling of prescriptions than just blindly filling a doctor's orders. I could be wrong in this, but I think they are there to do more than just count pills.