Prescription for Indignation
Last year the California Pharmacists Association adopted a policy allowing members to refuse to fill prescriptions based on "ethical, moral, or religious grounds," said the group's interim chief Carlo Michelotti. "A pharmacist has a right to his moral beliefs." A recent poll of 625 pharmacists revealed that 82 percent believe they have the right to refuse to fill a prescription for a drug such as RU-486, reports The Los Angeles Times.

Given these facts, Michelle Crider's conflict with her pharmacist is hardly unexpected. Crider's doctor called in a prescription for her, a "morning after" formula: four birth control pills to prevent the implantation of a fertilized egg. But the pharmacy manager at Longs Drug Store in Temecula, California, John Boling, refused to fill the order, citing his moral beliefs. While Boling had the support of his professional organization, he was reprimanded by his employer. "Our policy is that a pharmacist, if he has moral objections, should refer the prescription to another on-duty pharmacist, or to another Longs, or to a competing pharmacy," said Longs spokesman Clay Seland.

The prescription was ultimately filled at another pharmacy, but Crider was upset. "This was a legitimate, legal prescription," she said in response. "Is a pharmacist supposed to preach religion?"

Barrio Medicine
One third of the nation's 31 million Hispanics lack health insurance. In many communities, cultural traditions combined with lack of access to the medical system have promoted a network of alternative care built on religion, ethnic customs, and home remedies, reports the New York Times. Curanderas—healers—are called to remove curses believed to cause fevers and other ills. Neighborhood bodegas dispense herbs, teas, incense, charms, sprays, and oils.

While these remedies are often effective, just as often they impede crucial care. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that uninsured people are in danger from untreated contagious diseases and rely on emergency rooms for acute conditions. The much-touted revolution in alternative and complementary health care is driven in part by simple economics. For those without insurance, there are few alternatives to alternative medicine.

Acupuncture to Zen: New Modalities in Psychotherapy
Synthesis is the latest wave in psychotherapy. Increasing numbers of mental health practitioners are sending their patients to alternative medicine specialists. Therapies once considered fringe—such as eco-psychologists, who "reconnect clients with nature"—are gaining wider acceptance. A recent article in USA Today reports an increasing perception among mainstream therapists that traditional therapeutic modalities have their limits.

William Doherty, of the University of Minnesota, describes "functional networks of healers who can work together, referring clients to appropriate healing channels." Sarah Conn, a psychology instructor at the Harvard Medical School, "takes clients 'soul tracking,' on nature walks to 'help connect what is going on outside with what is going on inside.'" Other practitioners are using approaches from complementary and alternative medicine such as meditation, shamanism, and massage therapy in an effort to "treat the whole person—the soul as well as the psyche."

The difficulty arises in sorting legitimate approaches from quackery. Since people in distress are often desperate enough to try anything, the possibility of exploitation is real. And while practitioners of dubious modalities may not intentionally defraud their clients, the end result is the same. The road to mental health, like another famous road, is nothing if not paved with good intentions.