Painkillers With Codeine Will Need Script Starting February 2018

The Therapeutic Goods Administration has announced that painkillers containing codeine will no longer be available over the counter from 2018.

The federal drug regulator said that the decision has been made because people who consume codeine became addicted to it.

TGA’s principal medical officer, Dr Tim Greenaway, said the medication will change from Schedule 2 or 3 to Schedule 4 in February 2018.

“It’s important that people realise that the decision’s been taken based on safety predominantly and based on the risk of abuse.

“Medication that are available over the counter or through pharmacies should be substantially safe and not subject to abuse.”

“This is clearly not the case with codeine,” he said.

However, the decision has been slammed by a peak pharmaceutical group, Australian Self Medication Industry (ASMI), which argued the drug should be kept available over the counter but with real-time monitoring system in place. ASMI’s chief executive Deon Schoombie said that most people using codeine do not abuse the product.

“Our view is that the decision put forward is a very blunt a very broad brush approach to the problem and I think we would have liked to have seen the opportunity for more targeted measures.

“Nobody disputes the fact that there are risks associated with products that have codeine”¦but the vast majority of people who’ve been using these products use it appropriately.”

The TGA said that the misuse of over-the-counter codeine products results to severe health outcomes, “including liver damage, stomach ulceration, respiratory depression and even death”.

However, the TGA said that products containing codeine will remain available without prescription from pharmacies until February 2018, which they said will allow consumers with chronic pain to discuss alternative treatments with their doctors. The TGA added that patients could use alternative over-the-counter products such as paracetamol or ibuprofen, or cough and cold medicines that do not contain codeine.

Source: Abc.net.au