OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) — Washington’s Board of Pharmacy has decided to not change a rule that prohibits pharmacies from refusing to dispense all legal drugs, including the morning-after contraceptive “Plan B.”
On a 5-1 vote, the board voted Thursday to stop its process of drafting a rule change that would allow pharmacists to refer patients to another pharmacy for “time-sensitive” medication, including Plan B and hundreds of other drugs. Individual pharmacists can still refuse to fill a prescription on moral grounds, but patients must receive their prescription onsite without delay.
Pharmacists who oppose the Plan B drug have sued the state, but that lawsuit was delayed when the board decided over the summer to begin a new rulemaking process.
