Overlooked in the Overdose Crisis: Addressing Substance Use Treatment for Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Communities

Amid an escalating overdose crisis, growing attention has turned to racial and ethnic disparities in the accessibility of medication-assisted treatment (MAT), such as buprenorphine. Most existing research has focused on disparities found in MAT amongst Black and Hispanic patients; by contrast, Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) communities remain notably under-researched and often overlooked due to systemic barriers and stereotypes. A study by Chhabra et al. analyzed approximately 1.1 million opioid-related emergency department (ED) encounters across the United States, highlighting disparities in buprenorphine prescribing by race, sex, and clinical factors. Most notably, Asian American (AA) and Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander (NHPI) patients had lower odds o