Photo: Dimensions/Getty Images The Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe v. Wade is causing a worrying side effect: Patients in states that have enacted abortion bans are reporting that pharmacies have refused to fill prescriptions for drugs that could impact a pregnancy if the patient was pregnant. In other words, patients are having trouble accessing critical medication just because they are women.
Medical experts emphasize this should not be happening and that it sets a dangerous precedent. Pharmacists are among the most accessible health-care providers, says Danya Qato, an associate professor at the University of Maryland School of Pharmacy, and they have an obligation to “assure optimal outcomes for all patients.” Like abortion bans, refusing to fill prescriptions will likely disproportionately affect minority communities.
The situation is an enormous mess. But if you’re taking a potentially contentious medication, there are steps you can take to ensure you get the care you need. Make sure your prescription has the right diagnosis code and indication CVS has said that for methotrexate or misoprostol prescriptions it has instructed pharmacists in “high-risk states” to “validate that the intended indication is not to terminate a pregnancy.” It also said it encourages providers “to include their diagnosis on the prescriptions they write to help ensure patients have quick and easy access to medications.
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