The National Women’s Law Center (NWLC) in partnership with Fenwick & West LLP, sent a legal demand letter to CVS Health after our client was illegally denied medication she needed after experiencing a miscarriage. Our client was denied a prescription for misoprostol at a CVS pharmacy in San Diego. The letter seeks compensation for our client and demands that CVS take immediate steps to ensure that no patient is denied their lawfully prescribed medication in the future, including by training its employees on their legal obligations.
Misoprostol is commonly prescribed for management of miscarriage and other conditions, and also is used for medication abortion, making it a vital medication for many individuals. CVS’s denial violates state and federal laws that protect against sex discrimination as well as laws that ensure all patients receive legally prescribed medication.
We are demanding that CVS:
- Retrain all CVS employees at the location where the incident took place with updated training materials.
- Ensure that every CVS employee nationwide understands applicable federal and state laws, which prohibit discrimination on the basis of sex and require that pharmacies ensure their customers can obtain their legally prescribed medication.
- Conduct random, regular screenings of pharmacy locations across the country to ensure compliance with federal and state law.
- Clearly post at every CVS pharmacy a statement of patients’ rights to obtain prescribed medication and CVS’s commitment to serving its patients.
- Pay damages to our client for the harms CVS caused.
NWLC has received other complaints about wrongful refusals to fill prescriptions related to reproductive care, including birth control, and welcomes individuals who think they may have experienced similar discrimination to reach out to NWLC to share their stories.
Find the official demand letter here.