Transgender Arizona woman says CVS pharmacist refused to fill prescription
FOUNTAIN HILLS, Ariz. (KSAZ) - An Arizona transgender woman says a CVS pharmacist refused to fill her hormone prescription.
According to a blog post on the ACLU Arizona website, Hilde Hall of Fountain Hills went to her local CVS Pharmacy to get her hormone therapy prescription filled.
Hall says when she arrived at the store, the pharmacist refused to fill her prescription.
"This was the first time that she was starting with this medication," said Steve Kilar with ACLU Arizona. "She was really excited about it. Her first stop was here at the CVS to get those prescriptions."
"He just kept asking, loudly, and in front of other CVS staff and customers, why I was given the prescriptions," Hall said in the blog post.
Hall says the pharmacist did not give her a reason for the refusal and he refused to give her back the doctor's prescription note so she could have it filled at another pharmacy.
Hall says she later called her doctor's office, who tried to intervene and get the prescription filled, but the pharmacist refused once again. Her doctor was able to get the prescription filled at a local Walgreens.
"It sounds like it was mostly the pharmacist being not very kind to a patient," said Kilar. "Hilde said she was nearly in tears by how the pharmacist was treating her, and no one should face that kind of judgment."
Hall says she has filed a complaint with the Arizona State Board of Pharmacy. Meanwhile, Attorney Scott Gibson with Davis Miles says there is nothing, at least in the state statute, that prevents this.
"The question would become what does the company, how does the company react to that? Is there a company policy that he refused to follow?" said Gibson.
CVS released a statement, apologizing for the incident.