Trans woman angry after being treated like a er... woman

[AuroraFloyd]

A pharmacist refused to fill the hormone prescription and humiliated the customer.

This trans woman got to experience real life as a woman and didn't like it.

edition-m.cnn.com/2018/07/20/health/arizona-trans-woman-cvs-pharmacist-prescription-trnd/index.html

The pharmicist has been fired and yet this happens on a regular basis to women who want emergency contraception. Or who try to buy certain medications while pregnant or breastfeeding - even if it's not for them. How many times have I seen the pharmacists defended by employers because of their beliefs but when it happens to someone with a penis it's a sackable offence!

I must say I've never had a prescription refused. I've been questioned about over the counter medication when pregnant or when buying for a child which I think is part of their job. I've never been questioned about breastfeeding because they've never known, and I don't see how a pharmacist would know about that unless told.

I have a huge amount of sympathy for the person in the article. They shouldn't have had a prescription challenged, and they shouldn't have been dealt with so publicly. It's a shame they didn't feel able to ask to discuss it in private, which I think UK pharmacies would do. However sacking the pharmacist does seem like a massive reaction to one instance of poor customer service. Surely the employee should have been given a warning, some training in customer service etc etc before simply sacking them.

If this was a one off incident then the employee has been dealt with harshly, however we don't know and doubt we ever will if this was on top of other disciplinary incidents/customer breaches etc.

The pharmacist was out of order in this instance and was correctly (if harshly) dealt with.

Nobody should refuse to give a prescription to anyone. I have never had one refused and all hell would break loose if I was. If you don't want to dispense certain medication to people, don't be a fucking pharmacist. This is not 'being treated like a woman'- it's someone being an utter dickhead. It should not be excused under any circumstances.

I have neveheard of women being refused medication or M AP do you have a link do this? The person was humilated and refused medicine but I have a feeling you don't really care about the refusal and humilation I would hope the chemist was dealt with.

Some pharmacists do refuse to dispense the MAP but I think they're supposed to refer you to a pharmacist that will.

Yes they are supposed to re refer but I think it is very rare. The trans womens prescription is kind of like me being refused my HRT

I'm very surprised you have never heard of this happening. Very quick google brought up a variety of situations:

www.thetimes.co.uk/article/pharmacist-refuses-rape-victim-the-pill-9zrnqdlhp

www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www.cnbc.com/amp/2018/06/25/walgreens-pharmacist-refused-womans-prescription-for-mis-carriage-meds.html

www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-207429/Pharmacist-refuses-sell-pill.html

www.telegraph.co.uk/news/health/news/7404786/Pharmacist-refuses-to-issue-pill-because-of-her-religion.html

This incident happened in America, pharmacists there refuse to fill prescriptions they don't approve of (usually for women) all the time.

It sounds to me as if the pharmacist was doing the right thing in ensuring that the prescription was correct (patient who is clearly male presents prescription for female hormones for the very first time really should trigger a check to ensure that there hasn't been an error)

But the way it was done sounds crass - though I'm not sure why it's a sacking offence, other than CVS's desire to hold onto that "perfect score" on the LGBT+ rating

That’s disgusting if pharmacists do that regularly in the US. The trans thing here is a red herring- I genuinely don’t think people should be allowed to be pharmacists if they refuse to dispense certain drugs. That is literally their job and by acting like this they are failing to do it properly.

I agree, the decision over what to prescribe is between a patient and their doctor. The pharmacist has no business deciding whether or not that decision is correct. I had no idea that US pharmacists regularly refuse to dispense prescriptions.

The most relevant bit was the claim that by asking questions the pharmacist was "outing" the trans person in question, as if the pharmacist was the only person in the shop with eyes. That refusal to acknowledge uncomfortable reality and tendency to project that discomfort onto others and make it their fault aspect of trans activism seems to be the same everywhere.

And yes, fucking appalling that pharmacists are acting as if they're the moral arbiters of which medications people (usually women) should be allowed to take. If you aren't comfortable dispensing the full range of medication likely to be prescribed then perhaps "pharmacist" is not the job for you.

In the UK the GPhC Standards say that a pharmacists beliefs must not impact patient care. There is no place in healthcare for ones personal politics or religious beliefs. The patient should and is central.

I agree AngryKitten the pharmacist was right to ask the question, although privately, but definitely was in the wrong job.

I genuinely don’t think people should be allowed to be pharmacists if they refuse to dispense certain drugs. That is literally their job and by acting like this they are failing to do it properly

I agree. The trans woman in this incident has my full support as would any woman or trans woman, or person frankly, this happened to.

I've never had a prescription refused but one odd thing I've noticed happens occasionally when I get a private prescription filled in Boots.

The prescription is from a long established private GP practice so nothing dodgy about it and the drugs in question are not anything addictive or where an overdose could be an issue but some of Boots pharmacists seem to think they entitled to ask questions about what it is for. I refuse to answer and reccommend they phone the GP if there is a problem- they never do.

Like saying "OK, I will take this job as a hotel concierge, but I refuse to give anyone directions or help them with any other issues that may come up". But with far more alarming potential consequences.

The most relevant bit was the claim that by asking questions the pharmacist was "outing" the trans person in question, as if the pharmacist was the only person in the shop with eyes

That isn't relevant to the patient's right to privacy. I've had Boots pharmacists attempting to question what my private prescription is for with other customers clearly in earshot.

Saying, as I did, "I am not discussing my health issues , for which my doctor has issued a prescription , with you " draws attention.

Agree Lass. Doesn’t matter if someone’s condition is obvious to others. Nobody should be asked to disclose sensitive medical information in front of strangers in a store. If the pharmacist has a query with the prescription they can call the prescribing doctor or take the patient into a side-room.

I’ve had a prescription refused in the U.K. because the pharmacist didn’t believe the dose was right and that the doctor had made a mistake. I tried to explain that it wasn’t a mistake but I agreed the doctor was prescribing off guidelines. Pharmacist still refused until they got hold of the doctor and spoke to them.

I wonder if this pharmacist thought it was an error? If the person was still obviously male and had been prescribed female hormones the pharmacist may have thought it was an unsafe error. Especially if they haven’t come across it before. Why didn’t the person explain what it was for? They could have asked to speak privately to the pharamacist....though the pharmacist should have offered that in the first instance.

"I didn't want to answer why I had been prescribed this hormone therapy combination by my doctor.”

And that’s the crux of the problem. I assume in America it’s similar to the U.K. and pharamacists have a duty to check that what they’re giving is correct and safe.

I agree, the decision over what to prescribe is between a patient and their doctor. The pharmacist has no business deciding whether or not that decision is correct.

That actually isn’t true. They’re pharmacists not dispensers, they’re not there to do as they’re told. They have more knowledge about medication than doctors do. Totally agree that they shouldn’t be making moral decisions but medical ones they should be.

The drug I struggle getting sometimes is a type of antibiotic because I’m prescribed it at a dose which is considered unsafe and long term (years). If the doctor had made a mistake the chemist would be in trouble along with the doctor. They’re supposed to question stuff if they think it’s the wrong dose or drug.

A man being prescribed female hormones is unusual. Yes, maybe the pharmacist was being a dick in which case there’s no excuse. But maybe he thought it was a mistake.

If a pharmacist feels that they absolutely must question a customer about what's been prescribed I really don't see why they can't pull them aside to a more private spot to do so, but a lot of them seem to have a bit of a taking pleasure in exercising whatever small measure of power they feel they have issue. As a young adult I once got a quite bizarre grilling about why I was buying Nurofen Plus (not even prescription) at a counter at Boots.

Nurofen plus is addictive, of course they question why you want to buy it, that’s the pharmacists job.
They study for 4 years for a masters degree and then a years pre-reg training before they can practice as a pharmacist.

That's my point. If they think there's an error that's totally different and part of their job to check. That doesn't mean they should refuse to dispense, or question the patient in public. A discussion in private and/or contacting the prescribing doctor should be the response.