Tuesday, November 15, 2005

I'm Not Shopping at Target

I’m going to boycott Target because they let their pharmacists refuse to fill prescriptions for Plan B emergency contraceptives. But, one might say, that’s Target’s prerogative. Yeah. But I don’t have to like it, and it’s my prerogative to signal my displeasure by spending my money elsewhere. But, aren’t the pharmacists in question simply acting on their consciences? Maybe so, but it’s going to cost their employers my business and that of a lot of other people.

The pharmacists have a state enforced monopoly on dispensing Plan B, and you can’t get it without going through a licensed pharmacist. (I don’t know why you need a license to take pills from a big bottle and put them in a little bottle). If they were willing to give up their monopoly, I might be a bit more sympathetic to their claim of a right to refuse to prescribe a drug they don’t approve of. One solution would be to make Plan B available over the counter. That way, your pharmacist would not have to dispense it if it troubled him.

2 comments:

freeman said...

Good post.

I never did shop at Target, although for no particular reason. Now I have a reason to continue to not shop there.

Steve Scott said...

You've obviously missed the point. Transferring pills from a big bottle to a little bottle certainly is a simple enough task. But, they're also required to count the pills as they go. This is the reason for a license.

As for me, I'll be a little easier on Target. I met my wife-to-be in the shoe department. ;)