Codeine-laden painkillers stay on sale
By Tamara McLean
August 06, 2008 02:06pm
HEAVY-duty painkillers containing codeine will remain available over the counter but pack sizes could be reduced to stop drug abuse, a government committee has ruled.
Doctors and pharmacists have welcomed a decision not to reclassify codeine combination medicines such as Nurofen Plus as prescription-only.
The drug class was under investigation due to mounting claims of serious medical complications among addicted Australians, with one online forum suggesting 7000 people were hooked.
A report released last month linked high use to serious side-effects, like perforated stomach ulcers and renal failure, and death.
The Therapeutic Goods Administration committee leading the investigation said today the schedule will not change, but it will consider reducing the largest pack sizes down from the 72-tablet packets currently on sale in pharmacies.
Packs could be cut down to just four days' therapy to "restrict supply to genuine cases of treatment of short-term pain," the national drugs and poisons schedule committee stated in the record of reasons from its June meeting.
The change, to be discussed at the October meeting, was necessary because "there was evidence that abuse/misuse was occurring," it said.
The committee has also agreed to form a working party to investigate availability of all over-the-counter codeine combination drugs.
John Gullotta from the Australian Medical Association said doctors welcomed the decision but also supported a reduction in pack sizes.
"The adverse side-effects and problems happen over a long period of time, not usually in short treatment bursts, so limiting pack sizes would be the way to go," Dr Gullotta said.
"And we look forward to having the issue investigated further to understand the situation more thoroughly."
Brian Grogan from the Pharmaceutical Society of Australia (PSA) said pharmacists also supported the decision to keep the products widely available.
Pharmacists have argued that while there were some pockets of possible misuse, the problem was not widespread and the number serious medical complications was limited.
"The PSA is not aware of any published evidence of widespread misuse apart from newspaper articles based on anecdotal reports," Mr Grogan said.
Nurofen Plus manufacturer Reckitt Benckiser said there was no evidence the use of non-prescription medicines containing low doses of codeine led to abuse if taken for a short time and according to the directions on the pack.
