The abortion ban in the United States, the first to hurt by arthritis is patients with arthritis

Jimu News reporter Zhang Yang

Today in the United States, some drugs that treat rheumatoid arthritis may be used for abortion, causing patients who have taken these medicines for a long time. Reuters reported this absurd scene in an article on July 15.

Annie England Nobelin, a 40 -year -old resident in Missouri, USA, took metomotate -containing drugs to treat her arthritis every month before this week. But this Monday, her pharmacist said that she could not get the medicine before confirming that she would not use the drug for abortion.

Oppose the prohibition of abortion

Duozhou legislative regulations stipulate that the issuance of abortion medicine is a felony crime

Missouri is now almost prohibited from abortion, and methotrexate can be used to terminate pregnancy, but it is also one of the commonly used drugs for treating rheumatoid arthritis. This arthritis affects more than one million American.

Although after several twists and turns, Noblin got her own medicine, she said that she might use another more expensive drug to prevent those people refused to prescribe her medicine in the future.

Noblin said he was very angry: "Just because I am a woman, they don't trust me and don't give me medicine. This forced me to switch to more expensive medicine!"

It was not Nobelin alone in this situation. According to the posts from Reuters and Global Jelly Foundation, dozens of women in dozens of women in Texas, Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, and Tennessee have also encountered similarity when obtaining methotrexate The problem.

At present, more than 30 states in the United States have promulgated legislation to limit drugs that can be used to terminate pregnancy. Now in Texas, it is a felony to handle methotrexate to those who are more than 7 weeks pregnant to terminate pregnancy. Indiana is prohibited from miscarriage from the 10th week of pregnancy, including methotrexate.

Steven Schultz, director of the legislative affairs of the Arthritis Foundation, said that the laws of the other six states specifically mentioned that methotrexate is an abortion drug.

Periodotrexate is often used to treat arthritis

The conflict between the federal and the states leads to the dilemma of pharmacists

Rachel Rebra, a professor of law at the University of Temple, said that these laws have a "cold cicada effect" on doctors and pharmacists, causing them to dare to distribute drugs that may lead to abortion, because they are afraid that they will bear legal consequences.

On Wednesday, the US government's health institution instructed retail pharmacies in various places. They must fill in prescriptions according to the Federal Civil Rights Law and pointed out that refusal to issue methotrexate may be a discrimination. The guidance of the federal government emphasizes that the distribution of such drugs should not be limited, but this is not enough to eliminate the patient's concerns about the ban on the states.

"This indicates that in some ways, the federal government opposes the prohibition of these drugs. We can see what the federal government is willing to do to ensure that people can obtain drugs normally."

The National Community Pharmacist Association, representing nearly 20,000 independent pharmacists, stated in a statement that the pharmacist was "dilemma", and they fell into the "crossfire" of the federal and states' contradictory regulations.

CVS Health's store

A spokesperson at Walgreens Boots Alliance and CVS Health said that they instructed the pharmacist to send it to the patient after confirming that the methotrexate would not be used to terminate the pregnancy.

People who do not understand drug knowledge are legislative

It is reported that methotrexate is a cheap generic drug, and many drug companies are producing. It is usually used to treat autoimmune diseases such as lupus erythematosus, and has been approved for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis for more than 30 years, and it is also used to treat cancer. However, if you use high doses, it can terminate pregnancy, complete abortion, or end the life -threatening ectopic pregnancy.

According to the data of the pharmaceutical market research company IQVIA, in the past year, an average of about 500,000 prescriptions about methotrexate per month.

The restrictions on the abortion of the drug may be further written into the laws that are banned from abortion states. Michel Goodwin, a professor of global health policy at the University of California Law School of California, said that legislators without medical training and no relevant knowledge are opening the "Pandora Box" and will have a profound impact on other medical fields.

Goodwin said: "This is very unfavorable for many women, and will eventually give them the price of money and dignity."

(Picture from Reuters)

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