News Fewer Than Half of U.S. Pharmacies Carry One of the Most Effective Drugs for Opioid Abuse

[thegreenhand]

Fewer Than Half of U.S. Pharmacies Carry One of the Most Effective Drugs for Opioid Abuse​

Tara Law
Time
10 Jun 2022

Excerpt:

Today’s illicit drug supply is riskier than ever, experts say. It’s often contaminated by different dangerous substances—from the potent opioid fentanyl, to the horse tranquilizer xylazine, to benzodiazepines—which makes using illegal drugs more unpredictable and raises the risk of overdose.

These risks make effective treatments indispensable. However, one of the most successful treatments for opioid dependence—buprenorphine—is difficult to get at most pharmacies across the country, according to a new study published in the journal Drug and Alcohol Dependence.

Researchers conducted secret-shopper phone calls to nearly 5,000 pharmacies in 11 states from 2020 to 2021 and found that buprenorphine, an opioid-dependence drug that has been shown to halve opioid users’ risk of dying, was readily available in less than half of them. Some states had worse availability than others. In California, where buprenorphine was the least available, only 31% of pharmacies carried it, while in Maine, which had the most availability, 86% of pharmacies did. The study also found that naloxone, which reverses the effects of an overdose and is sold its nasal spray form as Narcan, was only available in 70% of pharmacies surveyed.

Full article here.

 

[thegreenhand]

Cited research article:

Availability of buprenorphine/naloxone films and naloxone nasal spray in community pharmacies in 11 U.S. states

Prompt access to prescribed buprenorphine/naloxone films (BUP/NX) and naloxone nasal spray (NNS) is vital for patients with opioid use disorder (OUD),…

www.sciencedirect.com