Category: Drug Access

How Chicago’s vaccine rollout is inhibited by longstanding inequality

The Guardian, February 5, 2021. Non-white Chicagoans, who makeup a majority of Covid-19 cases, have struggled to get the vaccine due to technology barriers and ‘pharmacy deserts’. Dima Qato, associate professor at the University of Southern California School of Pharmacy and senior fellow at the Schaeffer Center for Health Policy and Economics, has extensively studied…Continue Reading How Chicago’s vaccine rollout is inhibited by longstanding inequality

Pharmacy deserts in Chicago could make it tough for many to get COVID-19 vaccine

ABC Chicago, February 4, 2021. CHICAGO (WLS) — Many Chicagoans are already struggling to fill prescriptions because there are no drugstores in their neighborhoods, and that could also make it tougher to get the COVID-19 vaccine. “My work found that predominantly black and Hispanic neighborhoods in Chicago have fewer pharmacies and are more likely to…Continue Reading Pharmacy deserts in Chicago could make it tough for many to get COVID-19 vaccine

Filling of prescriptions is harder with insurer’s action

AP News, January 2, 2021. CHICAGO (AP) — A December decision by insurer Aetna to drop Walgreens from its Illinois Medicaid plan is making it harder for thousands of low-income Chicago residents to get their prescriptions filled. The Chicago Tribune reports Aetna’s decision to exclude the Walgreens chain from its Aetna Better Health of Illinois…Continue Reading Filling of prescriptions is harder with insurer’s action

Aetna drops Walgreens from its Medicaid plan, making it harder for low-income Chicagoans to get their prescriptions during the pandemic

Chicago Tribune, December 30, 2020. A patient had a severe mental illness, but with monthly injections of medication, he stopped hearing voices and was able to live in subsidized housing, according to Dr. Thomas Huggett, of the Lawndale Christian Health Center. Then came the Aetna insurance company’s decision to drop Walgreens from the patient’s Medicaid…Continue Reading Aetna drops Walgreens from its Medicaid plan, making it harder for low-income Chicagoans to get their prescriptions during the pandemic

In Communities Deserted By Pharmacies, Advocates Fear Inequitable COVID-19 Vaccine Access

CNN, December 24, 2020. Chicago (CNN)Rochelle Sykes worries that her west side Chicago neighborhood will be left out when the Covid-19 vaccine becomes widely available next year. “It’s a national phenomenon,” said Dima Qato, the lead author of the study of Chicago drug stores and an associate professor at the University of Southern California School…Continue Reading In Communities Deserted By Pharmacies, Advocates Fear Inequitable COVID-19 Vaccine Access

‘Pharmacy desert’ concerns arise on south, west sides of Chicago

Fox 32 Chicago, December 23, 2020. CHICAGO – Health experts are calling on Illinois to make some changes after the state’s contracted Medicare prescription provider dropped Walgreens. The state says the south and west sides of Chicago have pharmacies in reach, but health experts on the front lines say the issue is access and it…Continue Reading ‘Pharmacy desert’ concerns arise on south, west sides of Chicago

Disinvestment in Black and Latino Chicago neighborhoods is rooted in policy. Here’s how these communities continue to be held back.

Chicago Tribune, July 27, 2020. It’s an oft-quoted statistic: White families have significantly more wealth than nonwhite families in America — nearly 10 times that of Black families. The racial wealth gap continues to greatly impact the differences in opportunity and access, from long-term health outcomes of a global pandemic, to education and income levels,…Continue Reading Disinvestment in Black and Latino Chicago neighborhoods is rooted in policy. Here’s how these communities continue to be held back.

Pharmacies may not stock naloxone, despite statewide orders

Reuters Health, June 14, 2019. (Reuters Health) – More than three years after Pennsylvania issued a statewide order expanding access to the life-saving opioid antidote naloxone, the product was still hard to purchase in Philadelphia pharmacies, researchers found. For the current study, Dima Qato of the University of Illinois, Chicago and colleagues contacted 418 drugstores…Continue Reading Pharmacies may not stock naloxone, despite statewide orders

Hispanic heart disease deaths highest in mostly-Latino communities

Reuters Health, October 19, 2018. (Reuters Health) – Hispanics in the U.S. have lower rates of death from heart disease overall than non-Hispanic whites, except in communities where Hispanics make up most of the population, a recent study finds. “Given the residential racial/ethnic segregation across communities in the U.S. and the fact that localities with…Continue Reading Hispanic heart disease deaths highest in mostly-Latino communities

Where Did All The Corner Drug Stores Go? Areas Lose Easy Access To Medicine

WBEZ Chicago, January 24, 2018. You’ve heard of food deserts — often low-income neighborhoods that are more than a mile from a grocery store. Now another service desert is on the rise in these same neighborhoods: pharmacy deserts. As pharmacies slowly begin to close down on Chicago’s South and West sides, residents are finding it…Continue Reading Where Did All The Corner Drug Stores Go? Areas Lose Easy Access To Medicine