The Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade may have unforeseen repercussions, such as denying women access to necessary medications like arthritis medications.
Methotrexate is one vital plant that has suffered due to the Supreme Court’s decision. Methotrexate is a medication that is commonly used to treat autoimmune illnesses such as inflammatory arthritis, psoriasis, and lupus. Higher doses are also used in cancer treatment to prevent cell division.
It can also be used in medical abortions on occasion, though less frequently than the FDA-approved combination of mifepristone and misoprostol.
A report by AFP narrates the story of a nurse from Alabama, Melissa, who spoke of the harsh realities of living with arthritis and how the impact of the ban upended her life.
According to Melissa, on requesting her arthritis medication, she was told it had been placed on “hold” following an investigation that she wasn’t going to use it to induce abortion.
Melissa expressed her outrage at the current state of the abortion ban and how double standard it is. She was at a loss on how the same society who let her male friend get his prescription methotrexate filled without delay denied hers.
“We’re headed in the wrong direction, and it’s terrifying. I have two daughters. I don’t want to see this,” she said
Melissa is not alone. Multiple reports of women have come forward to express their outrage at the ban on abortion pills and how it keeps them from getting treatment at the right time.
Another woman, a 20-year-old Ohio university student, told AFP that she had been prescribed methotrexate since 2020 to treat her lupus. However, following the ban, the national chain of pharmacies informed her that they were “no longer accepting prescriptions for methotrexate unless it was for the FDA-approved use of (treating) breast cancer, or the patient was not presumably fertile.”
The above incidents are not isolated cases. Many more people have been affected by the decision. National organizations such as the American College of Rheumatology and the Lupus Foundation of America have reportedly stated that they are aware of the problems and encourage anyone who has been affected to come forward.
Following claims by several patients, AFP reached out to some giant pharmacy chains like CVS and Walmarts. National pharmacy giants CVS and Walmart said in statements to AFP that they were trying to follow new state laws in light of the high court’s decision to abolish the constitutional right to an abortion.
“In order to ensure that patients have rapid and easy access to drugs, CVS noted, “We encourage professionals to put their diagnoses on the prescriptions they write.”
Source: WIONEWS
