As we reach the midpoint of American Pharmacists Month, we must continuously honor the pharmacists who do heroic work every day in the face of incredible pressures. Pharmacy workforce shortages exist in almost every area of the country. Corporations can seem insufficiently responsive to the stresses of pharmacy practice. Patients may aggressively challenge the professional judgment of pharmacists and other pharmacy personnel. A toxic mixture of vaccine misinformation and disinformation fuels distrust. Keeping up-to-date with the rapidly evolving vaccine guidance from government authorities can be difficult. We recognize these problems and are thankful for your invaluable work.

Have we made any progress in improving racial health inequities since the early 2000s? Researchers at Harvard Medical School, who published their findings in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, wanted to find out.

If you are wondering what health care disparities might look like in medication use for chronic diseases, a new study published in JAMA Network Open can serve as just one example. Among patients with diabetes in the United States, researchers found that lower rates of SGLT2 inhibitor use, a medication with substantial cardioprotective and kidney protective benefits, is associated with Black race, Asian race, female gender, and lower household income.