Infotrak

More than 70,000 American lives were lost to drug overdoses in 2019, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, and the problem grew even worse during the pandemic. Daniel Hartung, Pharm.D., M.P.H., Professor in the Oregon State University College of Pharmacy, led a study that found that 20% of pharmacies refuse to dispense a key medication, buprenorphine, to treat the addiction. He explains possible reasons behind the problem, and why the availability of this drug is so important in the battle against the opioid epidemic.