Cincinnati-based Kroger on Friday announced that it is reiterating to its pharmacists that the company`s
drug policy requires its pharmacies to "make accommodations" to have a prescription filled if a pharmacist refuses to fill it, the AP/Forbes reports (Bluestein, AP/Forbes, 3/11). Advocates last week called on Kroger stores to make Barr Laboratories` emergency contraceptive Plan B available to women at its pharmacies after Rome, Ga., resident Carrie Baker said a pharmacist at a Kroger
store in December 2006 refused to sell her the drug. FDA in August 2006 approved nonprescription sales of Plan B to women ages 18 and older. Major
pharmacy chains -- such as CVS, Rite-Aid and Walgreen -- are carrying Plan B in all their stores and have pledged to ensure that customers can buy it at each store even if a certain employee declines to sell the pill because of moral objections. Glynn Jenkins, a spokesperson for Kroger, said last week that the company has a similar policy for prescription medications but not for over-the-counter
drugs, such as Plan B. She added that each store decides whether to carry nonprescription Plan B, just as they do for other nonprescription items (Kaiser Daily Women`s
Health Policy Report, 3/9). "We believe that medication is a private patient matter," Meghan Glynn, a Kroger spokesperson, said, adding, "Our role as a pharmacy operator is to furnish medication in accordance with the doctor`s prescription or as requested by a patient." Abortion-rights advocates in Georgia on Friday announced a statewide campaign to raise awareness about Plan B, which can prevent pregnancy if taken within 72 hours of sexual intercourse (AP/Forbes, 3/11).
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