Overview

• USC Schaeffer Center researchers, writing in Health Affairs, report national availability rose only from 33% in 2017 to 39% in 2023 based on IQVIA pharmacy data.
• Access was far lower in predominantly Black and Latino neighborhoods in 2023—18% and 17% of pharmacies, respectively—compared with 46% in majority-white areas.
• Availability fell in Florida, Ohio, Tennessee, Washington, Virginia and Washington, D.C., even as most states saw increases over the study period.
• Rural access remained uneven, with 73 high-overdose rural counties having fewer than one in four pharmacies carrying buprenorphine and 25 rural counties lacking a pharmacy.
• Study authors point to controlled-substance oversight, PDMP restrictions and shipment pauses as barriers, and urge policies such as stock requirements, loosening PDMP limits or potential de-scheduling.