Andrea Anderson McGregor MN sues two pharmacies after claiming she was illegally denied morning after prescription pill after one pharmacist said it went against his beliefs.
A Minnesota woman has filed lawsuits against two pharmacies who ‘illegally’ denied her requests for a morning after pill prescription – including in one instance cause it went against the pharmacist’s belief system.
Andrea Anderson, a 39-year-old mother of five, said she was first refused the pill at her local pharmacy, Thrifty White Pharmacy in McGregor, according to a sexual discrimination lawsuit filed in Minnesota’s Ninth Judicial District on Tuesday.
Anderson called in the prescription and just before she went to pick it up, received a call from a pharmacist there who told her that he couldn’t fill the prescription because of his ‘personal beliefs,’ the lawsuit claims.
After complaining to the pharmacy’s owner, Anderson claimed she was told that this was not the first time the pharmacist, George Badeaux who also serves as a local pastor, refused a prescription.
‘I was flabbergasted,’ Anderson who could ill afford the potential for a sixth child told via KTSP. ‘I couldn’t believe something like that was happening.’
That was just the beginning of the woman’s woes.
Serving customer’s medical needs irrespective of one’s personal beliefs:
When Anderson tried getting her prescription filled at a CVS some 25 minutes away, she was allegedly told her prescription couldn’t be filled there either.
The pharmacist at the CVS also tried to stop Anderson from obtaining it at a nearby Walgreens by allegedly telling her that they didn’t have it in stock, the lawsuit claims.
Yet when Anderson called Walgreens ‘to double check,’ she was told that the pharmacy did indeed have ‘Ella’ and could fill her prescription.
The pharmacist at Walgreens also confirmed to Anderson that she had just spoken with someone at CVS and said as such, according to the lawsuit.
‘The pharmacists I encountered ignored my health needs and my doctor’s instructions,’ Anderson said in a statement.
‘I could not believe this was happening. I was angry,’ the woman told via ABC News.
Responding to the sexual discrimination suit, CVS Pharmacy released the following stament via ABC News:
‘CVS Pharmacy is committed to providing access to emergency contraception, whether it is at the pharmacy counter for patients who have a prescription for it, or in our store aisles where we have sold over-the-counter emergency contraception for several years.’
A manager at the Thrifty White Pharmacy in McGregor told ABC News that the store had yet to be served while also noting that the ‘infringing’ pharmacist was no longer working there. When reached via phone at his home, Badeaux said he couldn’t comment for legal reasons.
Jess Braverman, the Legal Director at Gender Justice, the non-profit representing Anderson, condemned the pharmacist at Thrifty White, saying in a statement to ABC News that he ignored both his legal and ethical obligation.
Braverman hopes that the lawsuit will ‘ensure that health care providers uphold their legal and ethical responsibilities to care for their patients, regardless of the providers’ personal beliefs.’
