Walgreens Boots Alliance will strengthen its training for pharmacists after a woman was denied a miscarriage medication in Arizona because of a pharmacist's personal objection, according to Bloomberg.
Here are seven things to know:
1. A Walgreens pharmacist in Peoria, Ariz., refused to fill a prescription for Nicole Arteaga, who had just found out her baby's development had stopped.
2. Ms. Arteaga was prescribed misoprostol, a drug used for abortions and as a standard treatment for miscarriages.
3. "I left Walgreens in tears, ashamed and feeling humiliated by a man who knows nothing of my struggles but feels it is his right to deny medication prescribed to me by my doctor," Ms. Arteaga said in a June 22 Facebook post.
4. The pharmacist refused to fill the prescription, citing personal objections. Arizona, has a law that allows pharmacists to refuse drugs based on personal belief.
5. Walgreens has policies in place that allow pharmacists to not fill a prescription for moral reasons; however, if they refuse to fill the prescription, they must refer the prescription to a different pharmacist or manager "in a timely manner."
6. As a result of the incident, Walgreens will work to improve its training for pharmacists to comply with its company's policies. "We will provide additional training to all of our pharmacists on appropriately handling these situations in accordance with our policy," a Walgreens spokesperson told Bloomberg. "We want the process to be as seamless as possible for the patient."
7. Details of the additional training are being ironed out, the spokesperson said.