Gregoire opposes drug proposal

OLYMPIA – The state Board of Pharmacy is wrong, Gov. Chris Gregoire said Monday, to endorse a rule allowing druggists to refuse to issue medications due to moral qualms.

“I fundamentally believe they made a mistake,” Gregoire said. “The Pharmacy Board is there not to serve pharmacists but to serve patients.”

And if they cannot settle on a better version of the rule this summer, Gregoire said, she’ll write one for them. “I’m prepared to help them get the right an-swer,” she said.

Last week, the board’s five voting members unanimously supported a draft “refuse-and-refer” rule.

Under it, pharmacists who personally oppose morning-after birth-control pills could decline to give them out, but they would have to come up with an alternative way for the customer to get the drug. The rule says that druggists cannot “obstruct a patient in obtaining a lawfully prescribed drug.”

The decision disappointed and angered some women’s rights groups, who worry about access to emergency contraception. The morning-after pill, if taken within 72 hours of sex, sharply reduces the odds of a fertilized egg implanting in a woman’s uterus.

Gregoire said Monday that she is concerned particularly about pharmacies in thinly populated areas of the state. If a local pharmacist declines to sell a particular drug, she said, rural residents may have few alternatives.

“That’s not right,” she said. Medical decisions should be between a patient and a doctor, she said.

But the governor also said that her concern is broader than just morning-after birth control. Under the vague draft rule, she said, druggists could refuse to issue AIDS medication. They could decline to sell medicine to people they suspect of being illegal aliens. Or they could turn down end-stage cancer patients on the theory that there’s no use in using more medical resources on a dying person.

“Are we going to have some pharmacists who believe men shouldn’t have Viagra?” Gregoire asked.

Board chairman Asaad Awan, an Everett pharmacist, said the board will work with the governor on a rule that’s slated to become final in August.

“Nothing’s in stone yet,” he said. “We are just looking for more feedback.”

The governor has the power to overrule many state agencies by issuing an executive order. But the Board of Pharmacy is an independent board. Its members are chosen by a governor and confirmed by the state Senate. Gregoire and lawmakers could replace the board members – but not until the next legislative session in January.

Gregoire said she’s hoping a public outcry will change board members’ minds.

“I don’t want this to be done like we’re in a dictatorship here. We’re not,” she said.