BY HEATHER WARREN
OPINION – In communities across California, patients count on their local pharmacists to be an accessible point of care. Pharmacies are open when many doctors’ offices are closed and patients don’t have to face long wait times to speak with their pharmacist. We’re often the first people to come to for help treating minor aches or injuries, but our roles are much more than that. We’re the ones responsible for making sure patients get the medications they need, and counseling them on best practices to ensure their safety.
Despite the availability of FDA-approved non-opioid pain treatments—including one that just received approval last month—patients are still overwhelmingly prescribed opioids after surgery. It’s not because opioids are always the best option, but because our healthcare system makes them the easiest, most affordable, and most accessible prescription to fill.
The current lack of access to opioid alternatives is a major contributor to our nation’s ongoing opioid crisis. According to the California Overdose Surveillance Dashboard, in 2023 alone, 7,847 Californians died due to opioid overdose and another 7,137 died due to fentanyl overdose. If we want to address opioid addiction in our state, we need to start by giving all Californians real choices for post-surgical pain management. Unfortunately, barriers like high out-of-pocket costs, lack of insurance coverage, and limited provider awareness make opioid alternatives difficult and expensive to access.
To address the opioid crisis, we need to level the playing field. There’s already legislation at the federal level–the Alternatives to Prevent Addiction In the Nation (PAIN) Act–that would ensure Medicare beneficiaries can access non-opioids at an affordable cost and without delay, and I applaud Representatives Jimmy Panetta and Nanette Barragán for their leadership in supporting it.
Now, it’s time for our leaders in Sacramento to follow the example they set. We need Governor Newsom and our state lawmakers to champion reforming our approach to pain management. We need state-level policy that will ensure people on Medicare, Medicaid, and private insurance plans know about and can readily access any of the non-opioid options on the market.
As a pharmacist, I understand that people struggle with the high cost of prescription drugs every day. I also know that patients are often frustrated by the process of filling a prescription because insurance companies might require them to try opioids first or require a prior authorization from their providers. By implementing policies that get rid of these barriers and ensure non-opioid treatments cost the same as generic opioids, we can remove the hurdles that force patients to choose opioids over safe and effective alternatives.
Scientists and researchers have done their part in bringing cutting-edge opioid alternatives to market. Now, it’s time for our Governor to prioritize making these alternatives accessible to all Californians. We need decisive action to establish cost parity between opioid and non-opioid treatments, allowing healthcare providers to prescribe the most appropriate option for each patient without cost or other bureaucratic hurdles standing in the way. This is an opportunity to demonstrate true leadership in addressing one of our most pressing public health challenges.
Heather Warren, PharmD, is a graduate of the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center and has served for over a decade in both retail and specialty pharmacy in the greater Los Angeles area.