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San Diego woman says CVS pharmacist refused to fill misoprostol prescription
A sternly worded letter from the National Women’s Law Center demands that CVS Health take immediate steps to ensure access to reproductive drugs after a CVS pharmacist allegedly told a local woman “I’m not comfortable dispensing it to you” when the woman tried to fill a prescription for misoprostol.
The drug is one of two used to end early-term pregnancies, but in this case, the women’s rights activist group based in Washington alleges that its client, Angela Costales of San Diego, needed the drug to control bleeding after a miscarriage in December 2023.
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In an announcement of the letter and its contents, the National Women’s Law Center said it has “received other complaints about wrongful refusals to fill prescriptions related to reproductive care, including birth control.”
Crystal Mojica, a spokesperson for the law center, said, “The law is clear: pharmacies are required to fill legally prescribed medication. We have just sent a demand letter, and CVS can avoid litigation by working productively with us in the ways outlined.”
The Law Center is demanding retraining for all employees at the CVS where the incident occurred; ensuring that every employee at every CVS nationwide understands CVS’s policy that requires that all customers’ pharmacy needs are promptly and completed satisfied; conduct random, regular screenings of pharmacy locations across the country to ensure compliance; and clearly post at every CVS pharmacy a statement of patients’ rights to obtain their prescribed medication. Costales also is seeking monetary relief for the emotional and other harms CVS caused her.
