Video at Crooks and Liars on the controversy. Unfortunately, Dr. Hager, the religious nut who got pushed off the FDA after it was discovered that he liked forcing anal sex on his wife as much as he liked forcing unwanted childbirth on women, is permitted to spread a little misinformation about Plan B and egg fertilization, where he implies that if a fertilized egg doesn’t implant after Plan B is taken, that means the drug is at fault. (I haven’t seen any evidence for this–fertilized eggs don’t implant all the time for all sorts of reasons.) But otherwise, he comes off as the moralizing prick he is and on the outside of mainstream medical opinion on this drug. He actually has the nerve to say that it’d be bad for 11 and 12 year olds to get this drug, presumably because he thinks that having a baby or abortion is somehow better for them. The facts are here and they’re hard to deny–this drug is being withheld for ideological reasons.
The funniest part is that the segment shows that Dr. Hager and his fellows are blatant liars–they said they don’t want girls under 16 to get this drug without a prescription, but when that concern was addressed, they refused to approve Plan B for OTC sales anyway.
22 Responses to ““60 Minutes” on the Plan B controversy”
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But there is some good news on the emergency contraception front: Walgreens took four pharmacists to the woodshed for refusing to fill prescriptions for emergency contraception. Target needs to take a page from this book. I’m sure this will spark another round of wingnut fighting.
Just wondering, can a store refuse to sell things to minors? I remember working at a grocery store where we couldn’t sell raw eggs to minors, which was apparently the law (eggs were used too frequently in vandalism). Certainly if egg sales can be regulated then OTC medicine sales can be regulated, right?
I guess it might be bad for 11 or 12 year olds to have access to this the same way it’s probably bad for them to be able to buy, say, ephedra OTC, or heck, even aspirin OTC. Or large quantities of silverware. When it comes to minors, some kind of reasonable oversight is good, IMO. Bounds of reasonable left open for debate. But… that sort of regulation is feasible and independent of making something OTC, right?
Somebody in the know please point to know-source and/or nod to confirm.
Oh thank goodness! I have been avoiding finding out about Walgreens because they’ve been one of the few pharmacies I’ve found who can deal with my family’s nutty medication requirements (multiple medicines, multiple moves, insurance switches, Dr. switches, you name it) But I’ve been feeling guilty, since if they did refuse emergency contraception I would stop using them despite the hassle.
Now I know, and I can stop worrying and feeling vaguely guilty.
Oh thank goodness! I have been avoiding finding out about Walgreens because they’ve been one of the few pharmacies I’ve found who can deal with my family’s nutty medication requirements (multiple medicines, multiple moves, insurance switches, Dr. switches, you name it) But I’ve been feeling guilty, since if they did refuse emergency contraception I would stop using them despite the hassle.
Now I know, and I can stop worrying and feeling vaguely guilty.
Walgreens isn’t a hero here; the only reason the pharmacists were disciplined is that they were in Illinois, where you can have your license revoked for refusing to fill a prescription. Walgreens offered to move the disciplined employees to Missouri, where they could refuse EC without triggering legal response.
Amanda, you’re in favor of offering EC over-the-counter? Jeez. Won’t that kind of put the kibosh on the abortion party?
Pam: It sounds like Walgreens only disciplined those pharmacists because they’re required to by Illinois law. If I understand the article correctly, they’re still allowing pharmacists to refuse to fill prescriptions in the rest of the country.
What, kids actually buy them? I thought they’d steal them from their parents’ refridgerators, such as comes to mind should I have ever whished to use eggs for vandalization purposes as a child.
It’s not just in the US that fundies are intefering in the prescription of Plan B.
Britain’s biggest independent chain of pharmacies, Lloyds, is allowing pharmacists to refuse to dispense it: and as the other large chain, Boots, is about to be merged with the first…. well, we’re buggered.
More here.Bloody fundies - not content with imposing your lunacy on yourselves, you have to export it to us too.
Thanks America!
Just spotted this - a possible future Hager defense ploy? Canadian Court: “It’s not rape it’s sleep sex’
Dunno but….
If it were my store I’d tell the employee the day they were hired that they were going to sell everything I have for sale or they could look for work elsewhere. I think the Courts would uphold me. There are a jillion old “Sunday Closing” cases some of which relate to employees.
So, let’s say around election time I sell “VOTE” t-shirts and somme of them have donkeys on them and some of them have elephants on them. Let’s suppose they refuse to sell a donkey shirt because it offends their politics. Far as I’m concerned they’re going to be kicking road apples in about three minutes. From a legal point of view there isn’t two cents difference.
He actually has the nerve to say that it’d be bad for 11 and 12 year olds to get this drug, presumably because he thinks that having a baby or abortion is somehow better for them.
The trouble with leaving that to be presumed is that in isolation, it’s probably fairly accurate. If a 12-year-old who’s still in the “boys are icky” stage gets a hold of Plan B and takes it, no good is likely to result. I didn’t see the piece, did anyone on the television point out that carrying a baby to term is not really healthy for 12-year-olds?
Too bad Mrs. Hager didn’t introduce his “John Thomas” to a dull razorblade the first time he raped her. Couldn’t happen to a more deserving man.
Geez, If you can refuse to complete a legal retail transaction on account of someone’s religious/moral beliefs how much of a legal step can it be to refuse support (i.e. payment of taxes) to a government that engages in activities with which you disagree on moral/religious grounds?
Tosh, if I can refuse to complete a legal retail transaction on account of someone’s religious/moral beliefs, can people refuse to do business with me because the Jews killed Christ?
Dear Herchele–
Sorry to be the one to break it to you, but we don’t hate you because you are Jewish. Although, learning that you are a Christ-killer does make it easier to hate you.
Yours in Christ,
Bill O’Reilly
Dear Herchele–
Sorry to be the one to break it to you, but we don’t hate you because you are Jewish. Although, learning that you are a Christ-killer does make it easier to hate you.
Yours in Christ,
Bill O’Reilly
Sorry for the double post. My luffa slipped.
-BO
“…can people refuse to do business with me because the Jews killed Christ?”
Hell no, does not mean however that someone couldn’t try.
Herchele, It is a ‘red’ state thing. Has to do with freedom and personal responsibiliity and making your own decisions even when you don’t have a freakin’ clue.
If the fundies were really interested in saving fetuses(shouldn’t the plural be feti?)and not just making sure those enjoying sex suffer for it later, then they would be demanding that medical science devote its resources to finding a way to save those fertilized eggs that don’t implant are are naturally flushed out. After all more “people” die by that method than all of the car and airline crashes, cancer and AIDS, combined. It would be the number one killer. Where are their telethons for this?
catalogood
Just some further info on Walgreens 4 fundie pharmacists.
Walgreens first suspended them with pay, then fired them b/c they refused to sign a statement that they would fill prescriptions under Illinois’ new law. They are suing Gov. Blagojevich and the State of Illinois under some crazy right to work/conscience/right to worship philosophy.
Blago is fighting them. He passed the emergency contraception law by executive order in the first place when he heard about pharmacists refusing to fill prescriptions.
It’s the main reason I’m voting for him. That and the fact that while our surrounding states cut people out of medicare as fast as they can, he has extended insurance/medicare for ALL children in Illinois, regardless of income. Get laid off? Your kids can still go to the doctor!
He’s kickass.