JAMA Network Open Study Links Pharmacy Closures to Racial Disparities in Access

Researchers at Boston University School of Public Health used mobile device mobility data across 45 states and Washington D.C. to track pharmacy availability and visits before and after the acute pandemic phase. The observational study revealed that closures since 2019 have widened gaps, with minority neighborhoods showing stable low pharmacy counts regardless of median household income, while white and diverse areas retained higher density. Vehicle ownership and single-family home percentages correlated with pharmacy gains, but race and ethnicity emerged as stronger predictors than income alone.

Closures extend beyond medication pickup to reduce local access to vaccinations, testing, and chronic disease management, echoing patterns seen in prior observational work on cardiovascular adherence drops after rural pharmacy losses. Mobility patterns showed residents from minority areas traveling to diverse neighborhoods for services, indicating compensatory travel burdens not captured in simple distance metrics. This aligns with broader infrastructure disparities documented in CDC pharmacy desert reports from 2021 onward.

The study design cannot establish causation or project future closure rates without longitudinal claims data. Next steps require interventional evaluations of targeted subsidies or telepharmacy pilots in high-minority tracts to test whether restoring density improves adherence metrics within 18 months.