BEGINNINGS
IN THIS ISSUE:
Conscience Clause
introduced in Indiana and KansasVersions of the Pharmacist's Conscience Clause (CC) have been recently introduced into the Indiana and Kansas assemblies, according to reports on the Internet by the states' official web sites, Beginnings has learned.
Indiana has introduced HB 1734 on 6 January in the House and SB 147 on 26 January in the Senate. If passed, the bills are scheduled to go into effect on 1 July, the 1st anniversary of the first CC passed by a state legislature in South Dakota.
Kansas' bill, HB 2238, was introduced in the Kansas House and if passed will go into effect upon official publication.
The Indiana bills address the CC in a general, broad sense without specifying moral, ethical or religious dilemmas. The Kansas bill, on the other hand, addresses specific situations including abortion, assisted suicide and euthanasia. Both bills also grant a waiver of legal liability to the pharmacist and the pharmacy where he / she practices, as well as protection from discipline, recrimination or discrimination by his / her employer. Wisconsin and Kentucky are also introducing bills this year.
Beginnings has also learned the the Ohio Pharmacists Association (OPA) will take up a version of the CC at its annual convention in April. After years of resistance from the OPA leadership to a CC, the Resolutions Committee voted unanimously to recommend approval of Res. 1-99 on 4 February. The preamble aptly addresses a number of potential areas of moral, ethical and religious conflict facing the profession. However, it contains the questionable clause of "protecting the patient's right to obtain legally and medically indicated treatments" which can imply a referral requirement, something unacceptable to pharmacists with a conscience. PFLI is recommending Ohio delegates prudently modify the CC so that referral will not be a mandatory situation in such cases. That aside, PFLI commends OPA for adopting the wisdom of joining the ever growing number of state and national associations which are adopting the CC as a way to resolve the increasing conflicts in the pharmacy workplace vis-à-vis moral, ethical and religious dilemmas.
If passed, Res. 1-99 will have Ohio join South Dakota, California, Louisianna, Puerto Rico, Pennsylvani, New Jersey, Maryland, Minnesota, APhA, and ASHP in the list of states and / or associations which have passed a CC at the trade, regulatory or legislative level. Should the CC pass in Kansas, Indiana, Wisconsin and Kentucky, those states will also join the ranks of the enlightened.
PFLI soon to establish
networking directory of pro-life RPhsPharmacists For Life International has announced it will be establishing a Pro-Life Pharmaceutical Care Network Directory (PLPCND) for use by colleagues and the lay public who wish access to pharmacists who have clearly stated their pro-life convictions. After publication, the directory will be available in printed and electronic form, the latter at PFLI's web site (www.pfli.org).
The PLPCND will be a unique resource for practitioners willing to assist one another as they implement pharmaceutical care models which vary from the traditional "count and pour" practice. As well, it offers a resource to increasing demands from consumers who wish to patronize only a pro-life pharmacist / pharmacy and find that next to impossible in the "culture of death" environment.
To be included in the Directory, pharmacists will have to be PFLI members in good standing (with dues current) and signers of the PFLI statement of "total protection" for all human life as well as the PFLI Code of Ethics. Candidates for the Directory will need to respond to the mailer being sent to PFLI members by 1 May, 1999 to be included. For those who have questions they may contact PFLI's office at 740.881.5520 or by e-mail at pfli@pfli.org.
"Emergency abortion" propaganda intensifies
Agitation for more chemically induced abortions via the "emergency abortion" (EA) method continues in various media. Planned Parenthood of New York City recently announced that only three of 100 pharmacists it polled in that city were able to accurately identify what it calls under the misnomer "emergency contraception". Unfortunately only four of the 100 correctly identified the method as a form of abortion.1 This is true since in the EA method the abortifacient is ingested only after the woman has potentially been fertilized. A high dose (four times normal) of a common OC is then ingested within 72 hours of intercourse to ensure an inhospitable endometrium and subsequent chemical abortion of the child, should the woman conceive.
Many Planned Parenthood centers and abortion mills are advertising and touting the relatively new EA marketed under the name Preven® by Gynetics of Belle Meade, New Jersey. The product itself is made by Barr Laboratories, which will also be involved in the experimental new OC Seasonale® (see story below).
PPNYC says it will send information to the New York City pharmacies and it hopes to collaborate with pharmacy schools to hold seminars on the use of EA. Pharmacy schools in general have been cool to inquiries by PFLI to present its information to formative pharmacists, who will lead the future of the profession and whose views will determine if pharmacy can recover it's old moniker of a "life-saving profession." Information on EA can be viewed on PFLI's web site (www.pfli.org).
- The aggressive ad campaign of J&J's Ortho division is beginning to reap big dividends, reported the Wall Street Journal.2 Ortho's product, Ortho Tri-Cyclen, is the only OC in the U.S. with an approved indication for acne and, apparently, it has become a hit with appearance-conscious teenage girls, whether they are promiscuous or not. In fact, due to the androgenic action of the synthetic hormones in OCs, the latter have been known to actually exacerbate acne rather than clear it up. According to IMS Health, a market bean-counter outfit, Ortho Tri-Cylcen now leads market share of OCs in the U.S., going from 5.1% in 1996 to 12.1% in 1998. Meanwhile No. 2 Triphasil-28 has slipped slightly from 10.7% to 10.4 in the same time frame. No. 3 Ortho Novum 7/7/7-28 slid further from 12.2% to 9.7%.
- A recent World Health Organization (WHO) study showed an up to 95% killing rate efficiency-depending on timeliness of dosing-with a levonorgestrel-only "emergency abortion" pill, as compared to the average 75% rate with combination OCs, such as is seen in the Preven® product.3 About 3% of users experienced vomiting versus 22% with the combination OC product. Women were dosed with 0.75mg l-norgestrel followed by a second dose 12 hours later. The percentage of pregnancies terminated with the progestin-only product was 85% versus the 57% with the combination OC regimen, also known as the Yuzpe method. Administration of the abortifacients 49-72 hrs. after intercourse resulted in 58% killing rate with l-norgestrel only versus 31% with the Yuzpe method.4
- In the first four months of the pilot program in Washington state enlisting pharmacists as agents of death through the prescribing of "emergency abortion" (EA), 111 pharmacies participated with 2765 Rxs for EA written and filled. Prior to the project's launch, one major chain, speculated to be Fred Meyer, reported filling an average of one Rx for EA per week.5 Since the project's launch, that number is claimed to have reached an unconfirmed 61 per week. Fred Meyer is being bought up by Ohio-based Kroger, which is always very conscious about portraying a "family" image in its various PR campaigns. How that will wash with the likes of chemical abortion-happy Fred Meyer, pundits can only speculate.
- The Connecticut and Georgia state legislatures appear to be considering bills to require insurance carriers to pay for prescriptions to cover so-called oral contraceptives (OC) and other forms of birth control. Bills may be initiated in a number of other states, with agitation coming from the drug manufacturers and population control and vested-interest groups, such as Planned Parenthood. A similar bill was defeated in Connecticut in 1998.6
- "Hardly safe" is more like it. Media reports recently claimed a current medical journal study reveals "the increased risk of cancer and other illnesses linked with the contraceptive pill is canceled out ten years after women come off it." A closer read by PFLI / Australia director John Wilks reveals findings and analysis which was not reported elsewhere: "Within the first ten years of starting use of oral contraceptives there was a significant excess mortality from all causes of death, all circulatory diseases and cerebrovascular disease (pg. 97); "there was also a significant trend of increasing mortality for all cancers combined and for cervical cancer in relation to duration of use (pg. 98).7
- The International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) admitted, once again, that OCs are abortifacient in a recent issue of its IPPF Medical Bulletin. Under mode of action, it stated: "The receptivity of endometrium to the blastocyst [days old baby] is also reduced."8
- Included in this issue of Beginnings is "A Declaration of Life" by pro-life physicians which waxes eloquent on the abortifacient nature of various so-called contraceptives (e.g. OCs, Depo-Provera, Norplant). In contradistinction to the bogus physicians' statement of a year ago which stated the opposite without a shred of pharmaco-medical evidence, this statement clearly establishes the truth: these steroidal chemicals are abortifacient at times. PFLI thinks this issue is so important it has reprinted the statement in its entirety. Speaking of the bogus statement, it is unfortunate that, inter alia, Focus on the Family's Dr. Joe McIlhaney and former Pro-Life Ob / Gyn president Dr. Matt Bulfin foolishly affixed their signatures to the latter statement.
- PFLI has forwarded its annual charity donation in its entirety to the relief efforts for Hurricane Mitch in Honduras, as previously promised. Donations for the same are still being accepted by PFLI.
- It's not too early to think about PFLI elections which take place this summer (ballots will go out sometime in July). All offices and board positions are up for nomination. Committees include: nominating (before the election, of course); continuing education; merit award; finance; professional affairs; publications; and membership / development. Thinking about volunteering your efforts? We need you!
- Housekeeping: PFLI's office will be closed 1-11 July; normal hours resume Monday 12 July.
- The Pill: How it Works and Fails by PFLI / Australia director John Wilks, B Pharm, MPS, is the author's latest research work which is now available from PFLI for $2 postpaid. It serves as an excellent FAQ resource on the actions and dangers of OCs, chock full of documentation with 67 references. Wilks also serves as a contributing editor to Micromedex in Australia. Wilks' premier work remains A Consumer's Guide to the Pill and other Medications, which is available for $13 ppd.
- Speaking of John Wilks, he was the feature of a story on how he does not stock condoms and OCs in the Australian newspaper Sun Herald on 27 December 1998. It shows Wilks with a laminated placard in his pharmacy which lays out why the store does not stock such items and their detrimental effects on women, something of which "drug companies can't make any money...".
- PFLI member Stephen Miller, who recently lost his job at Fred Meyer for refusing to dispense OCs (another case history for a universal conscience clause), is seeking employment in the Portland, Oregon area with a pro-life pharmacy. Please contact this brave young man at 503-777-3503 or e-mail him cairparavel2@juno.com.
- PFLI Executive Director Bogomir Kuhar, PharmD did an interview with the Columbus, Ohio Right to Life community access cable TV program which then aired four times in late December and early Janusry. He will also deliver a talk for the Columbus Alliance for Life leadership seminar on abortifacients on 13 March. Contact PFLI HQ for details.
- As mentioned on page two, look for the sign up for the Pro-Life Pharmaceutical Care Networking Directory in the mail in the near future. If you don't receive an application form, please contact PFLI HQ.
- "Yo quero" paid your dues? Please return your dues upon receipt! Thanks!
- It is with sadness we must report the passing away of long time member Virgil Wiechert of Lima, Ohio on 11 August 1998. Mr Wiechart, partner in Wiechart Pharmacies, was one of the early charter members of PFLI back in the mid-1980s. As is PFLI's custom, we will arrange to have a Holy Mass intention offered for the repose of his soul. Requiescat in pace.
- An excellent analysis of the change in pharmaceutical ethics was addressed in the October 1998 issue of the Toronto-based Interim. Writer Tony Gosnach succinctly laid out in logical fashion the dilemmas pharmacists increasingly face on religious, moral and ethical questions affecting the profession and the role it plays. He also did a detailed summary of where the conscience clause stood at the time of writing. Gosnach addressed the many concerns the pharmacist who has a conscience faces ever more frequently in everyday practice.
- Lots of activity up north in Canada! PFLI / Canada Director Mike Izzotti reports numerous activities for the largest PFLI affiliate outside the U.S. Izzotti spoke to the Ontario Students for Life organization in October 1998; Margaret Petrin, of Edmonton, Alberta, represented PFLI / Canada at the Family Life Network meeting in the fall; Izzotti had a letter printed in the Interim as a response to the pharmacy ethics article (see above); PFLI / Canada will have a display at the Human Life International
conference in Toronto which all interested members should go see while at the conference; member Maria Zaffiro recently was awarded the Citizen of the Year award for her pharmacy's efforts in the community. Kudos to all the Canadian pharmacists who are setting such a good example for us all!
- PFLI / Ireland member Patrick McCrystal will be one of the featured speakers at the HLI conference (see above).
PHARMACY CHAINS regularly send out blind solicitations for staff pharmacists in selected areas. Two recently sent to PFLI came from bad boys K-Mart and Wal-Mart. PFLI contacted both chains to see if their positions had changed any from reprimanding or terminating pharmacists with a conscience. K-Mart's Howard Kramer, Director of Pharmacy HR never responded. Wal-Mart's district manager spoke with PFLI and after a thoughtful discussion--which included defining exactly what the CC is--concluded that if two pharmacists are on duty, the one with a conscience may exercise his / her right to refuse to dispense or counsel for death. However, if a pharmacist is working alone--as most are--he / she is expected to fill any prescription.
SCIENTISTS CLAIM to have isolated human stem cells, "the cells derived from fertilized human eggs [a scientific impossibility if there ever was one] just before they would have been implanted in the uterus, [that] have the power to develop into many of the 210 different types of cells in the body." These cells came from embryos [read: babies] that "would have otherwise been discarded" at IVF clinics.9 Therein the lies the true rationale for IVF clinics being founded: to act as spare parts factories for such X-File style gruesome experiments.
FELLOW ABORTIFACIENT MAKERS Hoechst AG and Rhone-Poulenc SA have announced their intention to merge.10 The combined company would have a stock value of about $47 billion, making it the second largest drug company worldwide behind Merck & Co, Inc. Annual sales would be approximately $13 billion, well behind Merck's projected $26 billion for FY 1998.
1) Kaiser Daily Reproductive Health Report, 26 Feb 1999, Item #1
2) Chaker AM, Anti-acne campaign propels birth-control pill. Wall St J, 28 Sept 1998, B1; B4.
3) Task force on postovulatory methods of fertility regulation. Randomised controlled trial of levonorgestrel versus the Yuzpe regimen of combined oral contraceptives for emergency contraception. Lancet 1998;352:428-33.
4) Cf. Beginnings, #108, Oct-Dec, 1998, pg. 3 for related story.
5) New developments in emergency contraception. The Contraception Report. Jan 1999;9 (6):11-14.
6) Chemical abortion. communique, 22 Jan 1999, pg. 2.
7) Mortality associated with oral contraceptive use: 25 year follow-up of cohort of 46,000 women from Royal College of General Practitioners' oral contraception study. Brit Med J. 9 Jan 1999.
8) IMAP statement on steroidal oral contraception. IPPF Medical Bulletin, December 1998; 32 (6) :1.
9) Genetic engineering: stem cells. communique. 27 Nov 1998, pg. 3.
10) Health Care Business Daily. 30 Nov 1998.
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Pharmacists For Life International
1995-99 Officers
President Lloyd J DuPlantis Jr., PD Vice President Karen Brauer RPh Secretary / Treasurer Jim Penkala, RPh Executive Director Bogomir M Kuhar, PharmD Directors Sandra Fabregas
Andy Cocco
Mike Izzotti
Lynn McEldowney
Paul Weckenbrock
Communications
Snail Mail: PFLI
PO Box 1281
Powell, OH 43065-1281 USA
Phone:
Fax:740.881.5520
707.667-2447e-Mail: pfli@pfli.org Website http://www.pfli.org
BEGINNINGS, the official organ of Pharmacists For Life International (PFLI), is sent via third class mail (in the US; via surface abroad). It is a component of membership in PFLI, currently $40 pharmacists and $25 students/retirees/organizations/non-pharmacists. Please send change of address or membership request with a complete address, phone, fax, and e-mail, if applicable. Payment accepted as checks, money order, Visa, MasterCard and Discover.
PFLI is the only pharmacy association which is exclusively pro-life. Others may have that as a component of their mission, but it is PFLI's sole mission. Founded in May 1984, PFLI has spread throughout the US, Canada and worldwide with many affiliates abroad.