Women vs medical establishment
A Montreal gynecologist has lost his licence to practice after decades of complaints about inappropriate remarks made to patients.
A woman in Saguenay who went to get the morning‑after pill was told by a pharmacist that he would not dispense it because it went against his religious convictions. Is a pharmacist allowed to block access to legally available medications because of their personal principles? It seems so.
jeather 10:51 on 2022-08-06 Permalink
Can’t have your head covered while you’re teaching in a public school named after Jesus, but you can prevent people from getting their legally prescribed medications if you claim it’s religious.
Kate 11:11 on 2022-08-06 Permalink
It’s been noted that the woman who gave François Legault his recent Covid booster, and was photographed doing it, is wearing hijab. (Presumably she’d be a technician, not a nurse?)
MtlWeb 15:16 on 2022-08-06 Permalink
The Bill 21 rule does not apply to health care staff even though, in 2013, the PQ’s charter of values as presented by Drainville did target all public service employees including those in health care.
steph 07:22 on 2022-08-07 Permalink
This is ridiculous. They should be out of business (if not rocks thrown in their windows)
Chris 10:53 on 2022-08-07 Permalink
Careful steph, advocating violence against someone for their religious convictions can get you in trouble. Seriously.
Kate 11:55 on 2022-08-07 Permalink
steph, if nothing else, Jean Coutu ought to be vetting the people they hire and making sure they don’t have personal issues with dispensing the full range of meds that are legally available.
Joey 18:22 on 2022-08-07 Permalink
Kate, FYI, in Quebec every single pharmacy is owner-operated. Jean Coutu runs a kind of franchise model whereby marketing, front shop, etc are all streamlined. But each store is owned and run by its own pharmacist. I don’t think Jean Coutu could deny a franchise to a pharmacist who isn’t violating the terms of practice established by the provincial order of pharmacists.
Kate 21:08 on 2022-08-07 Permalink
Joey, couldn’t the franchise rules say that the pharmacist must dispense the full range of meds available in Quebec according to the rules?
Kate 10:55 on 2022-08-08 Permalink
Footnote here: noticed this Guardian piece about a Minnesota judge ruling that a pharmacist there had every right to refuse to dispense the morning‑after pill.