A recent Health Affairs report, “Trends In The Availability Of Buprenorphine At US Retail Pharmacies, 2017–23,” cited data to highlight the need for expanded access to medication for opioid use disorder in pharmacies, particularly in high minority areas. The report emphasized that efforts in the past have focused on expanding the ability to prescribe the medication Buprenorphine. It noted that additional efforts to address regulations limiting a retail pharmacy’s ability to dispense the medication are an essential component of successfully expanding access to this critical medication. The report stated that it was the “first national study identifying counties with high opioid overdose rates that lack retail pharmacies that regularly dispense buprenorphine.” This data can support the development of policy changes and potential partnerships between some independent pharmacies and prescribers.
Quoted from the report:
Buprenorphine, a partial opioid agonist and Schedule III controlled substance, is currently the only scheduled medication for opioid use disorder (MOUD) that can be both prescribed in primary care settings and dispensed at retail pharmacies in the US. Despite the potential for buprenorphine to increase access to MOUD, gaps and racial and ethnic disparities in OUD treatment persist. Policy efforts attempting to reduce these gaps have focused on addressing regulations that restrict prescribing and have ignored the role of regulations that constrain pharmacies once buprenorphine is prescribed. Barriers that limit pharmacies’ ability to dispense buprenorphine may be an overlooked contributor to persistently low OUD treatment rates in the US and lower buprenorphine treatment rates in Black and Latinx populations. We found that buprenorphine was regularly dispensed (termed “available”) in only 39 percent of retail pharmacies in 2023. We also found that buprenorphine was less likely to be available at pharmacies in Black (18 percent) and Latinx (17 percent) neighborhoods than those in White neighborhoods (46 percent).
Federal and state policies that lower or remove barriers to pharmacy dispensing of buprenorphine access are warranted. State policies that protect pharmacies and pharmacists from Drug Enforcement Administration liability for buprenorphine diversion may encourage pharmacies to dispense buprenorphine. We found that buprenorphine availability at retail pharmacies was highest in states, such as Oregon, that had the least restrictive Prescription Drug Monitoring Program regulations, including restrictions on law enforcement access to suspicious activity, and that had also implemented decriminalization laws.
October 2, 2025 – K. Kertesz