What Do Pharmacists Think About New York State's New Nonprescription Syringe Sale Program? Results of a Survey

Abstract

Access to sterile syringes can prevent transmission of blood-borne diseases such as human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and hepatitis B and C. We conducted a survey of attitudes of pharmacists to aid in development of the Expanded Syringe Access Demonstration Program (ESAP) in New York

A Multistate Trial of Pharmacy Syringe Purchase

“…3,8 Perhaps most dramatically, since January 1, 2001, New York State has been conducting a test of a shift in policies from requiring a prescription for pharmacy syringe purchase to a policy of allowing sale of syringes by pharmacies without prescription. [9][10][11] This follows similar changes in 2000 in New Hampshire, in 1998 in Minnesota, and in 1992 in Connecticut. [12][13][14] In a national survey, 15 Burris and colleagues categorized the laws and regulations as follows: Drug paraphernalia laws in 49 states, D.C., and the Virgin Islands, generally prohibited sale, distribution, possession, manufacture, and/or advertisement of drug paraphernalia known to be used to introduce illicit drugs into the body, although for nine states syringes are exempted; syringe prescription laws in 13 states and the Virgin Islands limit the sale, distribution, and possession of syringes without a valid prescription; and regulations implemented at pharmacies restricted access to sterile syringes in some states as well.…”

Confronting inequities: A scoping review of the literature on pharmacist practice and health-related disparities

“…Examples of these services 332 included non-dispensing services for those with mental illness, 35,50,70,79 sale of non-prescription 333 syringes (or methadone) to IDUs, 26,29,33,55,[57][58][59][60][62][63][64]66,69,74,76 services for those with, or at risk for, 334…”

“…largely, though not exclusively, focused on pharmacists' response to legislative shifts allowing 348 the sale of non-prescription syringes, 29,33,56,[58][59][60][61][62][63][64][65][66]73,74,76,95 while research on mental illness has 349 focused on pharmacists' effectiveness in providing services beyond medication dispensing, 350 including counseling. 28,42,48,49,52,70,72,102 Literature on the adequacy of services for racialized 351 populations has considered disparities among racialized groups as related to pharmacy-based 352 immunization, 92,93 pharmacy or medication access, 74,99,121 alignment of pharmacists' activities 353 with patient needs/preferences, 77,81,91,94,102,119 and broader discriminatory practices.…”

“…However, the majority of scientific articles (98.9%, n=92) and 385 all of the grey literature acknowledged patient-specific health risks related to problematic 386 dynamics within the pharmacist-patient relationship, including: 387 26,60,64,73 ). Also discussed are risks for sub-optimal patient M A N U S C R I P T A C C E P T E D ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT care due to pharmacists' perceptions of limited time, privacy, or resources to sufficiently care 393 for those with limited English proficiency, 99,102,117 mental illness, 28,35,52,70 or who abuse 394 drugs, 68 as well as limits in pharmacists' cultural competencies, or interest, in serving certain 395 groups (e.g., racialized groups, 77 This scoping review provides valuable insight to patterns across a significant body of 419 research examining health and health care inequities and related dynamics in the pharmacist- There has been relatively limited attention to measuring the outcomes of these dynamics, but 434 researchers have discussed concerns related to potential risk for suboptimal care, discordant care, 435 medication risks, disease spread, and the perpetuation of general health disparities among 436 marginalized patient groups.…”

“…clinicians' knowledge about a condition and/or commitment to caring for a patient [36][37][38][39][40][41][42][43][44][45][46][47][48][49][50][51][52][53][54] Aligned 214 with this literature is a small group of articles that did not use the language of stigma, but 215 attended to societal level "stereotypes" about groups or measure "negative attitudes" and related 216 service gaps for those who abuse/ misuse drugs [55][56][57][58][59][60][61][62][63][64][65][66][67][68][69] and patients with mental illness. 70-72 217 Bias.…”