Monday, May 09, 2005

I am a mucus membrane ready to burst

So, I wrote a letter alerting Pamida I was disconcerted by the fact a Pamida pharmacist in Glencoe, Minnesota, denied a birth control prescription to a woman.

Here is Pamida's response:

"Dear Ben,

We appreciate your concern and opinion regarding the Pamida pharmacy in Glencoe, MN. You should know that our overriding concern is that our customer’s health needs are taken care of. We feel that situations like the one described are rare and if they do occur, we expect our pharmacists to make certain that provisions to have the prescription filled at our pharmacy or another convenient pharmacy of the patients choosing are followed.

Thank you for your letter.

Mike Bettiga
Sr. Vice President of Retail Health Operations
ShopKo Stores, Inc."

Here is my response response:

Dear Mr. Bettiga,

I appreciate your ambiguous response to my letter.

I feel that homicides are rare and if they do occur, I expect the murderer to make certain that provisions not to murder are followed.

Hyperbole is amusing, but it may not convey my point.

Is birth control a health need?
Who enforces the action of the pharmacist?
What are the consequences for the pharmacist’s action?

Assuming the Pamida pharmacist in Glencoe, Minnesota, had referred the woman requesting a birth control prescription to another convenient pharmacy where the woman could have the prescription filled, do you believe the following statement absolves the pharmacist?

“We expect our pharmacists to make certain that provisions to have the prescription filled at another convenient pharmacy of the patients choosing are followed.”

Thank you for your vacuous flatulence. I deprecate -- I mean I appreciate it.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

AWESOME!! Very funny

cp

klink said...

So....if someone comes to the counter and wants to purchase condoms, is the same refusal granted? What if I am buying lubricant? Spermicide? Wire hangers?.....

Anyway, the holier than thou art gets a little old.

Switching to important legal matters, don't let this happen in your neighborhood.