Availability of anti-overdose drug naloxone lags at Illinois pharmacies: Study

(WBBM NEWSRADIO) — A University of Chicago study has found that, despite an order from the state to make naloxone more available at pharmacies, the anti-overdose drug is not being widely dispensed.

University of Chicago Associate Professor of Medicine Dr. Mai Tuyet Pho explored how many Illinois pharmacies that registered were actually ready to give out naloxone without a prescription.

She and other researchers found that only one in eight pharmacies throughout the entire state had the medicine in stock and available.

The results of their phone surveys done in 2019 were published in the Western Journal of Emergency Medicine in July.

Those findings include that the opioid overdose reversal drug was available more at chain and urban pharmacies than those in rural areas.

“There was a really low saturation in rural pharmacies,” she said. “We know that rates of overdose are really increasing, and our rural communities are heavily impacted by overdose.”

Researchers said only 22 rural pharmacies in Illinois registered under the standing order, and half of those had naloxone available without a prescription.

Pho called the option imperfectly implemented but important.

She thinks the answer is more direct outreach from public health officials to pharmacists, who have been dealing with a lot since the pandemic, to make sure they know they don't need a doctor's script to dispense it.

Other strategies, such as having organizations that work directly with people using drugs distribute naloxone appear to work better, according to Pho.

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