Campus pharmacy limits birth control pills for fear of impregnating male fish
Katie Hyslop
The Muse (Memorial University of Newfoundland)
ST. JOHN’S (CUP) — Diana Pugliese thought something was fishy when Campus Pharmacy denied her more than one pack of her birth control.
Pugliese, a student at Memorial University in St. John’s, Newfoundland, said the pharmacist told her that women flush their pills down the toilet, causing impregnated male fish, which Pugliese finds hypocritical.
“The biggest causes of estrogen . . . or female sex hormones and female sex-like hormones in the water come from urine, but [they] also come from the breakdown of plastic,” she said.
“One of the biggest polluters would be large pharmaceutical companies that are dumping their expired [product].”
The official policy of Campus Pharmacy is to release up to three packs of birth control at once.
According to the Newfoundland and Labrador Pharmacy Board (NLPB), a pharmacist can only deny a patient medication for reasons of safety or stability of the drug.
“To me, on the surface of that, it sounds absurd,” said NLPB secretary-registrar Donald Rowe, referring to the reasoning of the pharmacist. “Why would you buy the stuff and flush it down the toilet if you’re not using it?”
Pugliese was not the first person to fight this breach of pharmacy policy, according to Memorial’s Students’ Union (MUNSU) president Cletus Flaherty.
Flaherty had a meeting with the pharmacist, services co-ordinator Jody Martin and pharmacy owner Robert Doyle.
“We were told that [the owner] was going to look into it and that female students here did have a right to ask for a full three-month prescription, and that he’ll put an end to the problem,” said Flaherty.
Pugliese said a return trip to the pharmacy the next month with a different pharmacist yielded different results — she was given the option of getting more than one pack of pills.
But, she continued to have problems with that one pharmacist. Despite her doctor’s request in the prescription that her pills be released three packs at a time, she was still denied her pills.
She has since complained to Martin and Doyle. Doyle could not be reached at press time.
Students from the Women’s Resource Centre also took their prescriptions to the Campus Pharmacy at the request of Pugliese, only to be denied more than one pack.
Pugliese posted a notice in the Muse classifieds asking women with problems obtaining birth control from the Campus Pharmacy to e-mail her with their stories.
At least a dozen women responded. Some said they received the fish reason, and others said they were told it is a health risk.
Many women, including Pugliese, think money could be a motive for the hold on pills.
According to Pugliese, every time an undergraduate student gets pills at the pharmacist, MUNSU’s insurance provider, Industrial Alliance, pays the pharmacy $8.87.
“If we have to go back every month [to fill a prescription], the insurance company is paying $8.87 a month, as opposed to paying it every three months,” said Pugliese.
“[If] a thousand [women] get their birth control at that pharmacy, that’s an extra nine grand they’re making every month.”
Pugliese said she has received more support from the Graduate Students’ Union (GSU) than from MUNSU.
Members of the GSU executive and their insurance provider, Green Shield, contacted her, but she has not heard from MUNSU, despite writing a letter to vice-president (internal) Roger Drinkall.
“The GSU has been aware of the birth control issue for a number of months and is paying very close attention to any new developments,” said GSU vice-president (finance) Darek Moreau. “Our insurance provider is currently investigating this matter.”
MUNSU remains adamant that it has followed formal procedure thus far and that it is prepared to follow through should the problem persist.
“The students’ union is here to stand up for the rights of its female members and, since what has happened from time to time at that pharmacy is a denial of their rights, we don’t want that to happen anymore,” said Flaherty.
