Poor Detroit Communities Have Less Access to Painkiller Medicines, Survey Finds
Many pharmacies in the poorest communities in the Detroit area do not stock strong painkillers, a situation that highlights national concerns about health care delivery to the poor and challenges the idea that pain relief is available to everybody, the Detroit News reports. While many doctors are more willing now to prescribe drugs to ease patients' pain, some inner-city pharmacists have decided that stocking such medications, including OxyContin, is not "worth the risk" because their stores are "targets for break-ins and robberies" by people who want the drugs for illegal purposes. The Detroit News "randomly and confidentially" surveyed 200 pharmacies and found that "drug stocks vary substantially." Among the findings:
- OxyContin is four times as likely to be in stock at suburban pharmacies than at pharmacies in poor communities.
- One in five pharmacies in poor communities stock OxyContin or morphine, while more than half of suburban pharmacies stock morphine and 87% stock OxyContin.
- One in three pharmacies in poor communities do not stock Percocet, while 92% of suburban pharmacies do.
