AMA continues codeine push

THE Australian Medical Association has released a special codeine-focused edition of its australian Medicine publication, strongly endorsing the TGA’s decision to make the drug prescription-only from 01 Feb.

The special issue continues the AMA’s attacks on the Pharmacy Guild, with AMA president Dr Michael Gannon once again strongly condemning the Guild for its “irresponsible and unprincipled lobbying of State and Territory Governments... aimed at undermining the independent Therapeutic Goods Administration”.

Sections in the publication comprehensively detail the AMA’s support for the TGA ruling and the dangers of the medication, with chapters titled how the Decision was Reached, Codeine - The Facts, Why Codeine Should be Prescription only and Harmful Effects of Codeine.

The AMA said it would continue to actively support the TGA codeine decision by intensifying its efforts to work with governments to “respect and uphold the evidencebased rulings of the highly respected independent regulator.

“te will be urging the Pharmacy Guild and other groups who seek to undermine the TGA to reconsider their actions and put the health of Australians first,” Gannon said.

He said when the ruling was first handed down, the AMA thought Australia would join the situation in about 25 other countries where a script is needed for codeine.

“ut we have now seen the Guild going out and doing what they’re good at - lobbying politicians hard.

“They’re very well resourced, but they’re wrong on this...the AMA will continue to make the case that the TGA has made the right decision,” the publication continues.

The Guild’s position has consistently argued that there ought to be a partial reversal combined with real-time recording of prescriptions involving GP and pharmacy software (PD 11 Aug 17).

The special AMA publication says the organisation continues to advocate for national real-time recording of controlled drugs.

“However the implementation of this system is unlikely for several more years... Victoria and WA are the only states so far to announce a timeframe for implementation sometime in 2018,” the AMA said.

CLICK HERE for the full publication.