Now it's "Pharmacy Deserts" putting peoples lives at risk.

quote:

---

As pharmacies shutter stores across the U.S., people in low-income and predominantly Black, Latino, and Indigenous neighborhoods are increasingly left in pharmacy deserts, without easy access to medications and other essentials. In November 2021, CVS announced that it would be closing 300 stores a year across the country in the next three years, and Rite Aid, which filed for bankruptcy in October, plans to close at least 150 stores in the next several months.

“Pharmacy deserts have been a longstanding issue that has gotten worse with recent closures of both independent and chain pharmacies,” said Dima Qato, an associate professor at the University of Southern California School of Pharmacy, who studies disparities in geographic access to pharmacies and spent more than a decade working as a community pharmacist in Chicago. That lack of access can have major consequences for the health of people living in marginalized communities.
How pharmacy deserts impact people’s health

A 2021 study co-authored by Qato, published in Health Affairs, examined disparities in pharmacy access in major cities such as Los Angeles, Chicago, Houston and Memphis. In Los Angeles, one-third of all Black and Latino neighborhoods were pharmacy deserts — meaning that the average distance to the nearest pharmacy was 1 mile or more. The biggest racial gap in pharmacy access was in Chicago, where only 1% of white neighborhoods were pharmacy deserts, compared to 33% of Black neighborhoods in the South Side.

---

quote:

---

Pharmacy deserts can take a particular toll on Black, Latino, low-income, and uninsured households because these groups are already at higher risk of chronic disease, said Juan Tapia-Mendoza, a community pediatrician who practices in Washington Heights in New York City. “Now it’s harder for them to access the prescription medications they rely on to treat common chronic diseases such as diabetes, heart disease, and arthritis.”

People living in pharmacy deserts also have more limited access to flu shots and vaccines for Covid-19. That’s a particular problem at a time when many community doctors and health facilities have not yet received the latest Covid vaccine, leaving patients in underserved areas with few alternatives, experts tell STAT. “Pharmacies were crucial in Covid vaccine rollout,” said Utibe Essien, an assistant professor of medicine and a health disparities researcher at the University of California, Los Angeles.

---

quote:

---

Often, the decision to close a chain pharmacy store is purely a business one — albeit without the effects on communities in mind, said Tapia-Mendoza. Rite Aid spokesperson Alicja Wojczyk told STAT in a statement that as part of its bankruptcy process, “we notified the Court of certain underperforming stores we are closing to further reduce rent expense and strengthen overall financial performance.”

Walgreens spokesperson Kris Lathan told STAT that the company takes several factors into account when closing locations, “including our existing footprint of stores, dynamics of the local market, and changes in the buying habits of our patients and customers.” Lathan also noted that Walgreens has partnered with local churches and civic groups to “offer off-site and mobile clinics in neighborhoods and rural areas where we’re able to provide walk-up access to life-saving immunizations.”

---