The New Orleans Health Department has launched a new map showing which pharmacies in the city stock the drug misoprostol.
The medication is used for miscarriages and other routine health care, but it has been a target of anti-abortion politicians because it can also induce abortions.
In October, a new Louisiana law rescheduled misoprostol — and another drug called mifepristone — as controlled dangerous substances. Nearly 300 doctors opposed the law over fears that it could delay or deny access to these drugs for pregnant patients, including those in need of urgent, life-saving care. The state is being sued over the law.
Doctors say misoprostol has been harder to access for legal use in the wake of Louisiana’s abortion ban and the new law. The New Orleans Health Department said in a written statement it had received “multiple reports indicating that misoprostol was often unavailable and that patients faced numerous obstacles when attempting to fill legal, medically appropriate prescriptions.”
“These challenges, along with confusion and limited availability in some pharmacies, create barriers that can delay care and lead to worsened health outcomes,” the department said.
To create the map, the health department surveyed pharmacies in New Orleans and Jefferson Parish. It found that only 65% of pharmacies in Orleans Parish said they had misoprostol in stock, while only 30% of pharmacies in Jefferson Parish said they had misoprostol available.
The new map will help patients and doctors find pharmacies that stock the drug, said Dr. Jennifer Avegno, the health department’s director.
“I’m hoping it will reduce some of the barriers so people can get the timely care that they deserve,” Avegno said. She added that timely access to the drug is “essential” for many health conditions.
Avegno said she hopes the map will also spur patients and doctors to work together to find access to the drug, and that pharmacies not on the map will be encouraged to stock misoprostol. The health department plans to survey pharmacies across the state, starting in other densely populated parishes, including Caddo Parish and East Baton Rouge. They also plan on surveying pharmacies in less populated parishes. Avegno said she’s worried that misoprostol will be particularly hard to access in regions that lack pregnancy care providers, which are often known as maternity care deserts.
“What concerns me is that if a parish like Jefferson, which has all of the resources and a lot of pharmacies, struggles, what does that look like in a maternal care desert parish, or a rural area?”
The new map is part of the city health department's “commitment to improving public health, particularly maternal, child, and family health,” it said in its statement.
The New Orleans Health Department is also studying the wider impact of Louisiana’s abortion restrictions on access to mifepristone and misoprostol. Anyone can report problems obtaining or dispensing the drugs by responding to a survey on the department’s website.
