Members of Congress call on Walmart pharmacy to rescind its NC miscarriage drug policy
A group of congressional representatives from North Carolina called on Walmart Wednesday to rescind a pharmacy policy that doctors said limited women’s access to a drug prescribed after miscarriages.
In a letter to Walmart leadership, the lawmakers said a new policy about the drug misprostol risks the health of patients and subjects them to “intrusive and potentially traumatizing inquisitions” from pharmacists. Democratic Reps. Kathy Manning from Greensboro, David Price from Chapel Hill, G. K. Butterfield from Wilson, Alma Adams from Charlotte and Deborah Ross from Raleigh sent the letter Wednesday morning.
The letter comes after The News & Observer reported that the retail company sent a memo to its North Carolina pharmacies in August instructing them to dispense misoprostol only if the prescription has a diagnosis code that confirmed it was not ordered for an abortion.
READ MORE: With NC abortion law in mind, Walmart puts new limits on dispensing miscarriage drug
Walmart did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The new policy intended to bring Walmart pharmacies in line with a 2013 North Carolina law that requires prescribing doctors to be with their patients when “the first drug or chemical is administered” during a medication-induced abortion.
While misoprostol can be used with another medication to induce abortions, it’s also essential for managing a number of unrelated health conditions, including miscarriages.
Doctors in North Carolina said in the weeks after the memo was sent that Walmart pharmacists either declined to dispense misoprostol or delayed filling the prescriptions. The policy created unnecessary health care delays for patients who needed the medication to manage a miscarriage, even though North Carolina’s abortion laws did not change after the U.S. Supreme Court reversed Roe v. Wade, they said.
The lawmakers asked Walmart to remind its pharmacists of their legal obligation to dispense misoprostol “free from discrimination and unnecessary hurdles.” They said Walmart’s policy appears to flout guidance from the U.S. Department of Health, which says pharmacies refusing to fill misoprostol prescriptions because of its role in medication abortions risk violating anti-discrimination law.
They also asked for a full list of medications Walmart has similarly regulated in recent months.
“Walmart’s reported policy delays critical health care for patients, threatens lives, and violates federal law designed to protect the privacy and rights of all patients,” the letter read.
Teddy Rosenbluth covers science for The News & Observer in a position funded by Duke Health and the Burroughs Wellcome Fund. The N&O maintains full editorial control of the work
This story was originally published October 5, 2022 at 11:54 AM with the headline "Members of Congress call on Walmart pharmacy to rescind its NC miscarriage drug policy."
