But the bill's emphasis here is on the more controversial drugs entering the marketplace. That drug is a sore point among some pharmacists who believe Preven causes an abortion if the woman has conceived. Faber's bill would protect pharmacists from being fired if they turn away a consumer with a Preven prescription and would shield them from lawsuits. Pharmacists would have to give their employer a list of medications to which they object up front. When a prescription for that drug came in, the pharmacist would refer it to a colleague or to another drugstore or, if neither option were available, possibly send the patient back to the doctor.
Some pharmacists already cite ethics to refuse to fill prescriptions.
Greg Wood, a pharmacist at the Waterloo Road Giant Eagle in Akron, says he has refused to dispense narcotics for minors who weren't accompanied by a parent, for example. And while Faber's bill has about 20 supporters in the Ohio House, some aren't sure it should pass. The new law could make pharmacists with ethical objections into a protected class, Boyd said, so he's not taking a stance. Wood, who is president of the Stark County Academy of Pharmacists, said it would be one rule too many.