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Saturday, April 6, 2013

Missouri bill lets pharmacies refuse to stock drugs

 Pharmacies in Missouri would be shielded from requirements to stock specific drugs, such as emergency contraception, if legislation passed Thursday by the Senate ultimately becomes law.The measure, which was sent to the House by a 24-9 Senate vote, was touted by its sponsor as a way to protect the rights of business owners.
“You go into a clothing store, and they can stock whatever they want to. I just want to make sure that pharmacies have the same right to do that,” said sponsoring Sen. David Sater, a Republican pharmacist from the southwest Missouri town of Cassville. “It’s a freedom of doing business.”
Although the legislation doesn’t specifically mention birth control, Sater said his measure was prompted by efforts elsewhere to require pharmacies to fill particular prescriptions such as emergency contraception.
Some Democrats said that’s why they opposed the legislation.
“I understand the business side of this … that it’s important that pharmacies be able to stock those drugs that they are going to be using,” said Senate Minority Leader Jolie Justus, D-Kansas City. But “there are a few of us who have concerns that this might be used by folks to not stock birth control, or what’s commonly known as Plan B.”
The morning-after pill is basically a high-dose version of birth control pills that prevents ovulation if taken within a few days after sex. Because a prescription is required for those younger than 17, it is sold from behind pharmacy counties at a cost of around $35 to $60 a dose.
According to the Guttmacher Institute, a nonprofit group that tracks laws on reproductive health, five states have laws requiring pharmacies or pharmacists to fill valid prescriptions, though courts in two of those states have ruled that the law cannot be enforced against pharmacies that refuse to dispense emergency contraception.
A greater number of states have laws specifically allowing pharmacies or pharmacists to refuse to dispense emergency contraception.
Missouri law currently is silent on the topic.

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