More than two-fifths of Oregon community pharmacies require a prescription to purchase syringes, even though they can be sold over the counter, creating an access barrier that could exacerbate the spread of bloodborne diseases like hepatitis C.

Oregon State University researchers conducted a telephone survey of more than 400 pharmacies in Oregon and learned that 43% of them were unwilling to sell a 10-pack of syringes to someone without a prescription. The scientists say the study was the largest to date on community pharmacy syringe access, and the unwillingness to sell was somewhat surprisingly most pronounced in urban areas of the state.

Beyond being an inconvenience – to patients with diabetes and other conditions requiring regular injections, to pet owners needing to administer shots to their animals, and to hobbyists who use syringes for a range of non-medical purposes – the findings have important public health implications in a state with one of the highest rates of hepatitis C infection, the scientists say.

Injection drug use, fueled in large part by the ongoing opioid epidemic, is a primary means of transmission for the hepatitis C virus, notes Adriane Irwin of the OSU College of Pharmacy. Access to sterile syringes is a key to giving people with substance use disorders a chance to stay as safe as possible as they work toward recovery, she says.

In addition to hepatitis C, a condition characterized by liver inflammation that can lead to cirrhosis and cancer, non-sterile needles can also foster the spread of HIV/AIDS.

“The opioid crisis is a public health disaster,” said Irwin, professor of pharmacy practice. “It started with the increased use and availability of prescription painkillers and evolved to include heroin and black-market fentanyl. Expanding access to sterile syringes and other drug use supplies for people who inject drugs is an evidence-based strategy for minimizing the negative consequences of drug use.”

Irwin, College of Pharmacy resident Victor Abreu and other collaborators in the college worked from a list of 455 community pharmacies obtained from the Oregon Board of Pharmacy website. The researchers chose the 10-pack of syringes because it’s commonly sold at such pharmacies and more closely aligned with the needs of a person who injects drugs than the other regular size, a box of 100.

Learning that more than two-fifths of the surveyed pharmacies would not sell a 10-pack without a prescription was unexpected, Abreu said.

“From complementary research with Oregon community pharmacies, we knew that there was some reluctance around over-the-counter syringe sales,” he said. “However, we were surprised by the extent of the reluctance. Additionally, we were surprised that it was greatest in Oregon’s urban areas.”

The scientists point out that barriers to tools for combating the opioid crisis, such as the prescription medicine buprenorphine, have been more commonly linked to pharmacies in rural areas. In the syringe study, however, they found the opposite to be the case – rural pharmacies were twice as likely to sell a syringe 10-pack over the counter than urban pharmacies.

“Pharmacies are businesses, and they can set their own syringe sale policies,” Irwin said. “But the Oregon Board of Pharmacy acknowledges the critical role of sterile syringes and has consistently encouraged pharmacists and pharmacies to increase syringe access as a means of mitigating the opioid crisis and disease transmission. At this point, we are really looking at a gap between an evidence-based best-practice and real-world translation.”

Abreu notes that the findings track with those of a similar but smaller survey conducted by other researchers that looked at 125 community pharmacies in Austin, Texas. In that study, just under 42% were unwilling to sell syringes without a prescription.

That’s part of a small accumulation of evidence that community pharmacies are inconsistent access points for syringes in many parts of the United States, Irwin said.

“There are some areas that have pioneered safe injection practices, so I would be hesitant to extrapolate our findings nationwide,” she said. “But further research is clearly needed to understand these pharmacy/syringe dynamics and help address unmet health needs for those who use drugs.”

Marissa McGinnis, Savannah Justen, Phuong Duong, Natalea Suchy and Dan Hartung of the OSU College of Pharmacy also contributed to the study, which was partially funded by the American Pharmacists Association.

Findings were published in Harm Reduction Journal.

Original Source: https://beav.es/NGL

Expert Contact
Adriane Irwin
Oregon State University
Adriane.Irwin@oregonstate.edu

Original Publication
Victor Abreu, Marissa McGinnis, Savannah Justen, Phuong Y Duong, Natalea Suchy, Daniel M. Hartung & Adriane N. Irwin
Journal: Harm Reduction Journal
Method of Research: Survey
Article Title: Pharmacy-related syringe access barriers: an audit of Oregon community pharmacies
Article Publication Date: 20-Mar-2025
DOI: 10.1186/s12954-025-01190-3
COI Statement: None of the authors have any conflicts of interest to disclosure.

Media Contact
Steve Lundeberg
Oregon State University
steve.lundeberg@oregonstate.edu
Office: 541-737-4039

Source: EurekAlert!