"Good Catholic Male" who refused to fill perscription out of job

[47of74]

Good

Quote

Back in July, a male pharmacist for the Meijer store chain in Michigan refused to fill 35-year-old Rachel Peterson’s prescription for the drug misoprostol. The pharmacist, who described himself as a “good Catholic male,” thought she was trying to induce an abortion, but she was just trying get some relief from a miscarriage that was already underway. The pharmacist, identified by the ACLU of Michigan as Richard Kalkman, is now out of a job.

Misoprostol is used to induce labor during pregnancy and to speed up a miscarriage that is already in process. It’s also used for the treatment of stomach ulcers and postpartum hemorrhages. When combined with other drugs, it can be used to induce an abortion.

Kalkman’s firing comes after Peterson filed a complaint with the ACLU, saying that he denied her services based on his religious beliefs.

In a statement to the Detroit Free Press this Thursday, Meijer spokesperson Christina Fecher said Kalkman is no longer with the company.

I bet cash money this guy is much like Kavadouche.

[Glasgowghirl]

I was raised Catholic and live in a country with a large number of Catholics and I've never heard of anyone rejecting to even to get someone else to fill the script out. One doctor at my surgery doesn’t prescribe contraception but we are told that when booking appointments, I don't know if she Catholic or not though. First rule of any job with the public is don't be a rude asshole to the person, especially dealing with medical matters.

[ViolaSebastian]

I hear one of these stories every once and awhile. What takes this version up a notch for me is that he refused to transfer the prescription. So not only did he refuse to fill it, he refused to give it to another person to fill.

Quote

“When I divulged to him that the fetus was no longer viable, and that … I needed to progress the situation further, he said, ‘Well, that’s your word and I don’t believe you,’ and he refused to fill it,” Peterson said.

This quote just kills me. BELIEVE WOMEN. Believe they know their bodies. Believe that they are capable of knowing and understanding what medical situations involving their bodies entail. Richard thought  that HE knew better than this poor woman and HE needed to teach her a lesson and make her do what HE believed was the proper thing. This is just pure, unadulterated sexism. I'm willing to bet Richard would NEVER say to a man's face that he was lying about a medical condition. 

I cannot, for the life of me, understand why anyone thinks that their religious beliefs trump someone else's ability to obtain medical care. What I see in this "good Catholic male" is a heaping helping of egotism, paternalism, and sexism, all rolled into one disgusting person. 

[Destiny]

I hate these stories. The only time a pharmacist should refuse to fill a prescription is if they know it will cause harm to their patient. Otherwise it’s none of their fucking business what they are taking or why they are taking it.

[Hashtag Blessed]

@ViolaSebastian He also seemed to believe he knew better than this woman’s doctor who prescribed the meds for her. The arrogance is fucking astounding. I’m so glad he was fired. Does he argue with people over their blood pressure or glaucoma meds? Would he dare say he doesn’t believe they actually need them for what they claim? You’re not a doctor, bro! You don’t have any say in anyone’s medical decisions! 

If you cannot fulfill the duties of the job without it conflicting with your religious beliefs, then get a different job. 

I have come across pharmacists who were visibly uncomfortable filling my prescriptions, but they never said a word. I’m always grateful when they don’t, even though I’m always silently daring them to. Pharmacists know intimate things about their customers, if they think they can start passing judgments and questioning people’s decisions then they are not cut out for the job. 

Fuck this guy. I hope he never works as pharmacist again.

[mango_fandango]

Urgh. What a dickhead. That poor woman, having to deal with an already shitty situation, and then having that twat making things worse. 

[Bethella]

The article linked above doesn't mention it but when her mother called to complain, he reportedly broke HIPAA and discussed the daughter's care without permission (and without verifying it was actually her mother). 

Quote

Rachel Peterson called her mom, Nancy Bianchi, 57, of Clinton Township and tearfully told her what happened. 

"She called me sobbing, just sobbing, and said he wouldn’t fill the prescription," Bianchi said. "And so I listened to her, and the whole time, I was trying to be calm, being her mother, and I told her it would be OK, and to try to get her doctor to call it in to another place. While I was talking to her, I was Googling the Meijer pharmacy phone number. I was seething.

"I said I would call her back in a little bit. The minute I got off the phone with her, I called the pharmacy."

She spoke to the pharmacist who'd just refused to dispense her daughter's prescription. 

"I said, 'I don’t think you have any idea of what you just did to my daughter.' ... To be honest, I went off on him," Bianchi said. 

He tried to tell her he didn't know Peterson had miscarried, and explained to Bianchi how the drug is commonly used. 

"I said, 'It’s not your job to know the full story. Your job is to be a professional and fill a prescription,' " Bianchi said. "A medically licensed doctor gave you a prescription to fill, and you have absolutely no right. ... If you, who call yourself a Christian, decided that you could not do this, then you needed to pass it off, as the law states, to somebody that could fill it.

"All you had to say was I’m transferring this to another pharmacy. For you to put your judgement into it, has no place. … for you to call and give her a sermon about this, when you knew nothing about what was going on."

Bianchi complained to a manager at the Petoskey store, and said she also asked to speak to someone in human resources. 

"Rachel was not only going through the worst thing in her life, but he was judging her and making her feel bad about that. She needed to get that medication. She was in such a fragile state, and had gone Up North to just try and grieve what was happening, and for him to have treated her that way was just terrible."

By telling Bianchi details about the medication Peterson was prescribed and discussing her case, the American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan alleges the pharmacist also broke health privacy laws. 

"That really upset me, too," said Peterson, who works as a cardiovascular sonographer. "Being in the medical field, that is an absolute no. You cannot talk to anybody about it without their consent and permission. What if it was someone posing as my mother? He had no idea."

https://www.freep.com/story/news/2018/10/17/pharmacist-medicine-miscarriage-religious-objection/1600714002/

[Katzchen24]

On 10/21/2018 at 10:32 AM, Glasgowghirl said:

I was raised Catholic and live in a country with a large number of Catholics and I've never heard of anyone rejecting to even to get someone else to fill the script out. One doctor at my surgery doesn’t prescribe contraception but we are told that when booking appointments, I don't know if she Catholic or not though. First rule of any job with the public is don't be a rude asshole to the person, especially dealing with medical matters.

Yep, I used to go to a surgery where one of the three doctors there would only deal with 'natural' contraceptives. It was clearly signposted so that patients could make a decision about who they saw. 

I would bet large amounts of money this guy has been an asshole to other patients who are already dealing with more stress than usual and haven't had the strength to complain.