Last ditch OTC codeine cry

AN ELEVENTH-HOUR plea from the Extended Hours Pharmacies Association (EHPA) has urged NSW parliamentarians to support a change to allow low-dosage codeine to continue to be available over-the-counter after 01 Feb 2018.

The Association held a meeting to discuss the issue in Sydney last night, with spokesperson John Maronese saying “extended hours pharmacists are at the coalface of this decision and are already seeing patients anxious about the pending change.

“We are bracing ourselves... we are going to have to take the brunt of people in pain, such as with a migraine, and we will have to tell them that we can no longer supply the products and that they will have to visit a doctor to get a prescription,” Maronese said.

He reiterated a proposal, previously heavily promoted by the Pharmacy Guild, which would offer a “common sense alternative to making these products prescription-only,” urging an exception that would mandate real-time monitoring and allow pharmacists to give up to three days’ supply of low-dose OTC codeine-containing products to appropriately identified patients.

Coming just three weeks before the up-scheduling of codeine containing medications, Maronese also highlighted the Guild’s MedsASSIST software which can be used to track codeine purchases.

“We are concerned that many MPs are not aware of the extent of real-time monitoring already in place in pharmacies,” he said.

Pharmacists at last night’s meeting were urged to invite local politicians to observe the effectiveness of MedsASSIST realtime script monitoring software.

However the timing of the call is somewhat unfortunate, given that the Pharmacy Guild has already confirmed that MedsASSIST will cease operating effective from 31 Jan (PD yesterday).

Cincotta Discount Chemists director Peter Feros backed the EHPA suggestion, saying pharmacists were already receiving complaints from customers who “resent being treated like drug addicts” and objected to the time and cost of seeing a doctor.

“NSW politicians cannot hide behind the Therapeutic Goods Administration and allow this to happen,” he fumed.