When the United Supreme Court overturned Roe V. Wade, everyone knew that some things would be harder to get, the most obvious one: Abortions. But who knew that this ruling would make the availability of some vital medicines very difficult. In the weeks since the SCOTUS ruling, multiple accounts of such struggles have come to light, reports AFP. One medicine that perhaps no one thought would be affected was arthritis medicine. However, recent reports have brought to light an overlooked impact of the ruling and the resulting state-level abortion bans or harsh restrictions.
A report by AFP narrates the experience of a nurse from Alabama, Melissa, who was told that the regular drug prescription for her rheumatoid arthritis was “on hold” pending a check that she wasn’t going to use it to induce an abortion.
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She expressed her outrage at the unfairness of the double standard that permitted one of her male best friends to get his methotrexate prescription filled without delay.
“We’re headed in the wrong direction and it’s terrifying. I have two daughters. I don’t want to see this,” she said.
While this is not a one-off incident, it’s unclear how common they are. National groups like the American College of Rheumatology and the Lupus Foundation of America have reportedly said they were aware of the issues and urging anybody who has been impacted to come forward.
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A second woman, a 20-year-old Ohio university student, told AFP that she had been prescribed methotrexate since 2020 to treat her lupus. She reported that a 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.”
National pharmacy giants CVS and Walmart said in statements to AFP that they were making efforts 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 simple access to pharmaceuticals, CVS said: “We encourage providers to include their diagnosis on the prescriptions they write.”
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The medicine at the centre of the controversy is methotrexate, which reduces inflammation and is frequently used to treat autoimmune diseases like inflammatory arthritis, psoriasis, and lupus. Higher doses are also administered as a cancer treatment to inhibit cell division.
It can also occasionally be used in medical abortions, albeit less commonly than the FDA-approved combination of mifepristone and misoprostol.
Nevertheless, a number of states have introduced legislation that threatens legal action against medical professionals and pharmacies that sell methotrexate.
(With inputs from agencies)
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