Pursuing Pharmacoequity: Determinants, Drivers, and Pathways to Progress

• Published in: Journal of health politics, policy and law policy and law, 2022-12, Vol.47 (6), p.709-729
• Main Authors: Chalasani, Rohan, Krishnamurthy, Sudarshan, Suda, Katie J., Newman, Terri V., Delaney, Scott W., Essien, Utibe R.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Access; Drug therapy; Drugs; Ethnic groups; Ethnicity; Health care expenditures; Health care policy; Health Policy; Health services; Health Services Accessibility; Humans; Inequality; Infrastructure; Medical treatment; Medicine; Medicine and Health; Minority & ethnic groups; Patients; Pharmacology; Political Science; Politics; Prescription drugs; Public Health and Health Policy; Public Policy; Quality of care; Race; Racism; Social Class; Social Determinants of Health; Social policy; Socioeconomic factors; Socioeconomic status; Socioeconomics; United States
• ISSN: 0361-6878; 1527-1927
• DOI: 10.1215/03616878-10041135

The United States pays more for medical care than any other nation in the world, including for prescription drugs. These costs are inequitably distributed, as individuals from underrepresented racial and ethnic groups in the United States experience the highest costs of care and unequal access to high-quality, evidence-based medication therapy. refers to equity in access to pharmacotherapies or ensuring that all patients, regardless of race and ethnicity, socioeconomic status, or availability of resources, have access to the highest quality of pharmacotherapy required to manage their health conditions. Herein the authors describe the urgent need to prioritize pharmacoequity. This goal will require a bold and innovative examination of social policy, research infrastructure, patient and prescriber characteristics, as well as health policy determinants of inequitable medication access. In this article, the authors describe these determinants, identify drivers of ongoing inequities in prescription drug access, and provide a framework for the path toward achieving pharmacoequity.