[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 44 (Thursday, April 14, 2005)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3685-S3686]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. LAUTENBERG (for himself, Mr. Corzine, and Mrs. Boxer):
  S. 809. A bill to establish certain duties for pharmacies when 
pharmacists employed by the pharmacies refuse to fill valid 
prescriptions for drugs or devices on the basis of personal beliefs, 
and for other purposes; to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, 
and Pensions.
  Mr. LAUTENBERG. Mr. President, today I am introducing the Access to 
Legal Pharmaceuticals Act (ALPhA). I want to thank Senators Corzine and 
Boxer for cosponsoring this important piece of legislation.
  This bill is simple. It ensures timely access to contraception and is 
crucial to protecting a woman's health and autonomy, and to keeping 
pharmacists and politicians out of personal, private matters.
  This bill would protect an individual's access to legal contraception 
by requiring that if a pharmacist has a personal objection to filling a 
legal prescription for a drug or device, the pharmacy would be required 
to ensure that the prescription is filled by another pharmacist 
employed by the pharmacy who does not have a personal objection.
  I came to the Senate 22 years ago. We've made a lot of progress, in 
women's health and women's rights since then. But today it seems like 
we're fighting to keep from sliding backward in some areas.
  An individual's fundamental right of access to birth control is being 
attacked. Reports of some pharmacists refusing to fill prescriptions 
have been documented in twelve states.
  The women that were denied were young and old; married and single; 
with children and without. Even women who were using birth control for 
other medical reasons aside from preventing conception have been denied 
access to the birth control pill.
  If you told me 10 years ago that a woman's right to use contraception 
would be in jeopardy, I probably wouldn't have believed it. Today I 
have to believe it--because it's happening.
  In Texas last year, a pharmacist refused to fill a legal prescription 
for the ``morning after'' contraceptive for a woman who had been raped. 
First she was assaulted and violated--then her rights were violated by 
a self-righteous pharmacist who didn't want to do his job.
  In Milwaukee, a married woman in her mid-40s with four children got a 
prescription from her doctor for a morning-after pill. A pharmacist 
refused to do his job. He wouldn't fill the prescription.
  A handful of pharmacists are saying they have a ``right'' to ignore 
prescriptions written by medical doctors.
  Well, they do have a right. They have a right to get a new job if 
they don't want to fill legal prescriptions.
  But nobody has a right to come between any person and their doctor. 
Not the government . . . not an insurance company . . . and not a 
pharmacist.
  The American Pharmaceutical Association has adopted an ``Oath of 
Pharmacists.'' The last part of the oath states: I take these vows 
voluntarily with the full realization of the responsibility with which 
I am entrusted by the public.
  People trust pharmacists to fill the prescriptions that are written 
by their doctors. If pharmacists are allowed to pick and choose which 
prescriptions get filled, everyone's health will be at risk. Today they 
might not fill prescriptions for birth control pills. Tomorrow it could 
be painkillers for a cancer patient. Next year it could be medicine 
that prolongs the life of a person with AIDS or some other terminal 
disease.
  I'm going to fight to protect all Americans against this radical 
assault on our rights.
  I'm proud to introduce a bill that will require pharmacists to do one 
simple thing: their job.
  I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the 
Record.
  There being no objection, the bill was ordered to be printed in the 
Record, as follows:

                                 S. 809

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

       This Act may be cited as the ``Access to Legal 
     Pharmaceuticals Act''.

     SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

       The Congress finds as follows:
       (1) An individual's right to religious belief and worship 
     is a protected, fundamental right in the United States.
       (2) An individual's right to access legal contraception is 
     a protected, fundamental right in the United States.
       (3) An individual's right to religious belief and worship 
     cannot impede an individual's access to legal prescriptions, 
     including contraception.

     SEC. 3. DUTIES OF PHARMACIES WITH RESPECT TO REFUSAL OF 
                   PHARMACISTS TO FILL VALID PRESCRIPTIONS.

       (a) In General.--Part B of title II of the Public Health 
     Service Act (42 U.S.C. 238 et seq.) is amended by adding at 
     the end the following section:

     ``SEC. 249. DUTIES OF PHARMACIES WITH RESPECT TO REFUSAL OF 
                   PHARMACISTS TO FILL VALID PRESCRIPTIONS.

       ``(a) In General.--A pharmacy that receives prescription 
     drugs or prescription devices in interstate commerce shall 
     maintain compliance with the following conditions:
       ``(1) If a product is in stock and a pharmacist employed by 
     the pharmacy refuses on the basis of a personal belief to 
     fill a valid prescription for the product, the pharmacy 
     ensures, subject to the consent of the individual presenting 
     the prescription in any case in which the individual has 
     reason to know of the refusal, that the prescription is, 
     without delay, filled by another pharmacist employed by the 
     pharmacy.
       ``(2) Subject to subsection (b), if a product is not in 
     stock and a pharmacist employed by the pharmacy refuses on 
     the basis of a personal belief or on the basis of pharmacy 
     policy to order or to offer to order the product when 
     presented a valid prescription for the product--
       ``(A) the pharmacy ensures that the individual presenting 
     the prescription is immediately informed that the product is 
     not in stock but can be ordered by the pharmacy; and
       ``(B) the pharmacy ensures, subject to the consent of the 
     individual, that the product is, without delay, ordered by 
     another pharmacist employed by the pharmacy.
       ``(3) The pharmacy does not employ any pharmacist who 
     engages in any conduct with the intent to prevent or deter an 
     individual from filling a valid prescription for a product or 
     from ordering the product (other than the specific conduct 
     described in paragraph (1) or (2)), including--
       ``(A) the refusal to return a prescription form to the 
     individual after refusing to fill the prescription or order 
     the product, if the individual requests the return of such 
     form;
       ``(B) the refusal to transfer prescription information to 
     another pharmacy for refill dispensing when such a transfer 
     is lawful, if the individual requests such transfer;
       ``(C) subjecting the individual to humiliation or otherwise 
     harassing the individual; or
       ``(D) breaching medical confidentiality with respect to the 
     prescription or threatening to breach such confidentiality.
       ``(b) Products Not Ordinarily Stocked.--Subsection (a)(2) 
     applies only with respect to a pharmacy ordering a particular 
     product for an individual presenting a valid prescription for 
     the product, and does not require the pharmacy to keep such 
     product in stock, except that such subsection has no 
     applicability with respect to a product for a health 
     condition if the pharmacy does not keep in stock any product 
     for such condition.
       ``(c) Enforcement.--
       ``(1) Civil penalty.--A pharmacy that violates a 
     requirement of subsection (a) is liable to the United States 
     for a civil penalty in an amount not exceeding $5,000 per day 
     of violation, and not to exceed $500,000 for all violations 
     adjudicated in a single proceeding.
       ``(2) Private cause of action.--Any person aggrieved as a 
     result of a violation of a requirement of subsection (a) may, 
     in any court of competent jurisdiction, commence a civil 
     action against the pharmacy involved to obtain appropriate 
     relief, including actual and punitive damages, injunctive 
     relief, and a reasonable attorney's fee and cost.
       ``(3) Limitations.--A civil action under paragraph (1) or 
     (2) may not be commenced against a pharmacy after the 
     expiration of the five-year period beginning on the date on 
     which the pharmacy allegedly engaged in the violation 
     involved.
       ``(d) Definitions.--For purposes of this section:
       ``(1) The term `employ', with respect to the services of a 
     pharmacist, includes entering into a contract for the 
     provision of such services.
       ``(2) The term `pharmacist' means a person authorized by a 
     State to practice pharmacy, including the dispensing and 
     selling of prescription drugs.
       ``(3) The term `pharmacy' means a person who--
       ``(A) is authorized by a State to engage in the business of 
     selling prescription drugs at retail; and
       ``(B) employs one or more pharmacists.
       ``(4) The term `prescription device' means a device whose 
     sale at retail is restricted under section 520(e)(1) of the 
     Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act.

[[Page S3686]]

       ``(5) The term `prescription drug' means a drug that is 
     subject to section 503(b)(1) of the Federal Food, Drug, and 
     Cosmetic Act.
       ``(6) The term `product' means a prescription drug or a 
     prescription device.
       ``(7) The term `valid', with respect to a prescription, 
     means--
       ``(A) in the case of a drug, a prescription within the 
     meaning of section 503(b)(1) of the Federal Food, Drug, and 
     Cosmetic Act that is in compliance with applicable law, 
     including, in the case of a prescription for a drug that is a 
     controlled substance, compliance with part 1306 of title 21, 
     Code of Federal Regulations, or successor regulations; and
       ``(B) in the case of a device, an authorization of a 
     practitioner within the meaning of section 520(e)(1) of such 
     Act that is in compliance with applicable law.
       ``(8) The term `without delay', with respect to a pharmacy 
     filling a prescription for a product or ordering the product, 
     means within the usual and customary timeframe at the 
     pharmacy for filling prescriptions for products for the 
     health condition involved or for ordering such products, 
     respectively.''.
       (b) Effective Date.--The amendment made by subsection (a) 
     takes effect upon the expiration of 30 days after the date of 
     the enactment of this Act, without regard to whether the 
     Secretary of Health and Human Services has issued any 
     guidance or final rule regarding such amendment.
                                 ______