Pharmacist refuses to fill medication for woman after miscarriage
Angela Costales, a resident of San Diego County, faced a distressing situation in December 2023 when she experienced a miscarriage. Despite being prescribed medication to manage her condition, she encountered a significant hurdle when a pharmacist at a Clairemont Drive establishment refused to dispense the necessary medication.
The events leading up to this refusal date back to October 2023 when Angela Costales received the heartbreaking news during her eight-week prenatal check-up that there was no fetal heartbeat or movement detected. This devastating revelation marked the onset of a miscarriage for Costales, plunging her into a period of emotional turmoil and physical recovery.
Following the diagnosis of her miscarriage, healthcare providers prescribed Angela Costales with medication to aid in the management of her condition. In an effort to obtain the prescribed medication, Costales and her husband made their way to the CVS Pharmacy located on Clairemont Drive. However, their visit to the pharmacy took a distressing turn when the pharmacist on duty declined to fulfill the prescription for Misoprostol, citing personal discomfort with dispensing the medication.
In a poignant recollection of the encounter, Angela Costales recounted the pharmacist’s refusal, stating that she was directly informed of the pharmacist’s unwillingness to provide the necessary medication. Undeterred by this setback, Costales and her husband sought assistance from another CVS Pharmacy situated on Balboa Avenue, where they were able to successfully procure the medication that had previously been denied to them.
In response to the refusal incident, CVS Pharmacy issued a statement emphasizing their commitment to ensuring timely and safe access to medications for all patients. The pharmacy chain asserted that they have protocols in place to prevent the denial of prescribed medication based on individual pharmacists’ religious or moral beliefs. However, Angela Costales’s experience has prompted her to seek legal recourse with the support of the National Women’s Law Center, highlighting the need for accountability and reform within the pharmacy’s practices to prevent similar occurrences in the future.
