Far North pharmacists call for rethink on codeine policy

Pharmacy Guild of Australia national councillor Trent Twomey, who runs several stores across the Far North, said the move would force people to see a doctor for “mild” problems such as a migraine or a headache.

He is pushing for MedsAssist, a pharmacy monitoring tool that records whenever someone buys codeine medicines, to be mandatory across the country. It is used by about 70 per cent of pharmacies.

Late last year the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) ruled the risk of codeine dependency and overdose too high to remain an over-the-counter drug. Painkillers containing codeine will become prescription only from February 2018, including Nurofen Plus, Codral and Mersyndol.

“I don’t think we need a policy in Australia that assumes everyone is a criminal and everyone is uneducated unless they can prove otherwise,” Mr Twomey said.

The TGA said harm caused by abusing over-the-counter codeine was considered when making the decision.

But Mr Twomey said not one pharmacist in Australia supported the change.

“Far Northerners will be used to having to show photographic ID for the purchase of these products … we believe if this was universally adopted nationwide, it would go a long way to addressing the concerns raised by the review,” he said.

Retail Pharmacy Group managing director Nick Loukas said the move was “shortsighted” because MedsAssist caused a “dramatic drop” in usage already.

Calanna Whole Health Pharmacy general manager Matthew Calanna backed calls for a compulsory rollout of MedsAssist.

“What we are talking about here is lots of people requiring scripts for low-dose Codeine-based products which are effective and can be monitored and sold under the supervision of a pharmacist very safely and reliably,” he said. A TGA spokesman said there were numerous alternatives, such as paracetamol or ibuprofen.

View original article at the Cairns Post website.