Women may get pill without prescription

From Reuters (UK):
Women could be able to get the contraceptive pill from their chemist without a prescription, a health minister said on Thursday.

Lord Darzi, a leading surgeon brought into Prime Minister Gordon Brown's government, said the programme could be piloted among pharmacists or nurses.

The pill is currently available only with a prescription from a doctor, although most pharmacies are able to provide the "morning-after pill" without a doctor's authorisation.

Darzi suggested women could be given the oral contraceptive after a full assessment by a trained health professional. ...more

Pope urges pharmacists to reject abortion pill

I thought this was relevant as I'm sure a notable percentage of Canadian pharmacists are Catholic.

From Reuters:
Pharmacists must be allowed to refuse to supply drugs that cause abortion or euthanasia, Pope Benedict said on Monday, calling on health professionals to be "conscientious objectors" against such practices.

The Pope told a convention of Roman Catholic pharmacists that part of their job was to help protect human life from conception until natural death -- the Church teaching that rules out any deliberate termination of pregnancy or euthanasia.

"It is not possible to anaesthetise the conscience, for example, when it comes to molecules whose aim is to stop an embryo implanting or to cut short someone's life," the Pope said. ...more

The new pill

From the Vancouver Sun:
As the birth control pill approaches its 50th birthday, the now ubiquitous medication is getting a facelift -- a brand new image with provocative implications.

Once marketed for severe menstrual disorders but quietly sold as a contraceptive, the birth control pill is now being pitched as a means of reducing or eliminating menstrual periods.

It is the stuff of huge controversy and massive marketing budgets, and pits gynecologists against some of the continent's top hormone researchers and sexual health educators. ...more

Health Canada approves Seasonale

From the Calgary Herald:
Say goodbye to "that time of the month" and hello to "that time of the season."

An oral contraceptive designed to give you only four menstrual periods a year instead of the usual 13 will be hitting Canadian pharmacy shelves by the end of the year.

On Thursday, Health Canada approved Seasonale, the first extended-cycle birth control to come to Canada. The drug was approved for use in the U.S. in 2003.

Taken as a 91-day regimen -- 84 active tablets with hormones followed by seven inactive tablets, during which time a woman would have her period -- Seasonale will appeal to busy women who don't want to deal with the inconveniences of a monthly period and to women who have severe premenstrual syndrome. ...more

Muslim cashiers won't ring up pork products

I ran into this posting at the Liberty Papers and thought it was worth a link. It's an interesting question: how is this the same or different from a pharmacist's moral objection to fill a prescription?

From Newsday (NY):
Beryl Dsouza was late and in no mood for delays when she stopped at a Target store after work two weeks ago for milk, bread and bacon.

So Dsouza was taken aback when the cashier - who had on the traditional headscarf worn by many Muslim women - refused to swipe the bacon through the checkout scanner.

"She made me scan the bacon. Then she opened the bag and made me put it in the bag," said Dsouza, 53. "It made me wonder why this person took a job as a cashier." ...more