Catholic pharmacy shutters in Virginia

[mr blur]

DMC Pharmacy, a pro-life Catholic pharmacy that opened with much fanfare in Chantilly, Va., in October 2008, closed last month because of lack of funds.

"We could not make it work financially," said Robert Laird, executive director for the pharmacy, whose letters stood for Divine Mercy Care. "We could never get that big push to make it viable and finally the board of directors said enough was enough."

By the time the store closed March 4, it was losing in the tens of thousands of dollars per month. When it opened 18 months ago at a cost of $350,000 just as the national economy was in a free fall, the 1,500-square-foot store on Metrotech Drive did not stock birth control pills, condoms, cigarettes or pornographic magazines.

It did have booklets on natural family planning below a picture of St. John Leonardi, the patron saint of pharmacists.

It was one of seven pharmacies in the country that refused to dispense contraceptives for moral reasons, on the grounds they caused abortions, lead to promiscuity or endangered a woman's health.

<snip>

I guess those sneaky catholics had to go somewhere else for their condoms, ciggies and porn.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2010/apr/07/catholic-pharmacy-shutters-in-virginia/

http://www.dmcpharm.com/index.php

[TZ]

1. Meh. At least women would know where NOT to go for birth control

I prefer my biogotry in the light of day. Instead of going to some non-descript pharmacy and being refused service by some asshat pharmacist.

[trotsky]

2. I remember when that Dominoes CEO whackjob was going to set up his own Catholic town.

I figured the smartest business decision one could make would be to open up a porn & booze store 6 feet outside the city limits.

[charlie]

3. Ave Maria is tantalizingly close to Clearwater

I'd always hoped the two towns would discover each other and start an epic Catholic vs Scientology ground war.

[charlie]

4. The market has spoken

Laird told LifeSiteNews (LSN) that the pharmacy is bound to do well, as Catholics and other pro-lifers in the Chantilly area are eager to take advantage of the opportunity to support a pharmacy that shares their values. Laird emphasized that meeting this demand is good for the community and the economy.

"All the opponents attacking us are saying we're restricting choice," said Laird. "We're actually increasing choice by increasing options for women who do not want birth control in the pharmacy.

"Let's just let the market decide what's good and worthy of our support, and not a particular social agenda," he said.

In order to maintain their commitment to Catholic principles, the pharmacy will not direct customers to other locations where they can find birth control. "If anybody wants birth control, we're in a plaza where there are two other pharmacies," said Laird.

http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/oct/08102202.html

[onager]

5. Say what?

DMC Pharmacy, a pro-life Catholic pharmacy that opened with much fanfare in Chantilly, Va., in October 2008, closed last month because of lack of funds.

Jumping Supply-Side Jesus! Econ majors feel free to correct me, but...

...that phrasing is just...weird. In my admittedly limited experience, businesses don't usually mention that they operate by "funds" or "funding," except for IPOs and such. Charities do that. Businesses have things like gross sales, revenue, net profits and losses.

"We could not make it work financially," said Robert Laird, executive director for the pharmacy, whose letters stood for Divine Mercy Care. "We could never get that big push to make it viable and finally the board of directors said enough was enough."

WHAT "big push?" Did this goofball actually expect customers to be beating down the doors?

Their refusal to sell certain items is a de facto moral judgment on every potential customer who walks in. "You're obviously a doomed sinner by requesting that item, which we holier-than-thou types don't sell. You can go to that OTHER pharmacy, with the rest of the drunks, smokers and whores."

Yeah, people really want to encounter that kind of crap on a trip to the pharmacy.

BTW, in my suburban Los Angeles 'hood, the religious nuts have been protesting a local porn shop for DECADES. And it's still in business.

"Let the market decide?" Shit-I-guess!

[EvolveOrConvolve]

6. The protests are probably actually profitable for the porn shop

Essentially, it's free advertising, and nothing's better for a business than free services.

[charlie]

7. Not to mention...

"...we're in a plaza where there are two other pharmacies."

If they don't name their shop Rhythm Method Rx, how would even the most ardent Catholic know they're a better choice than the Walgreen's and Rite Aid next door?

Death by lack-o-business-sense.

[SemiCharmedQuark]

8. Did they sell booze?

As someone who frequents Walgreens late at night, I can attest to the fact that almost everyone is buying porn and condoms wrapped up inside a newspaper.