Pain pills will need a script

MILLIONS of Australians will need to rethink how they handle pain from February 1 when codeine medicines Nurofen Plus, Panadeine Forte, Mersyndol and Codral become prescription only.

Pain Australia is urging people who rely on these medicines to see their doctor in the next few weeks to prepare for the change and find alternative medicines that don’t have the same risks.

The Government has moved to make codeine prescription only because 100 people a year die from codeine overdoses, many more are hospitalised and the medicine is addictive.

Between 2007 and 2011 there were 1917 deaths involving over-the-counter codeine and stronger versions, like oxycodone, that are currently prescription only.

This compares to 1127 deaths from heroin for the same five-year period.

In the US, President Donald Trump has declared opioid addiction a national emergency.

The drug is prescribed to more than a third of Americans and in some states deaths from the drug exceed those from car accidents.

Not recommended for use for longer than three days at a time, many Australians are taking codeine every day and at dangerously high doses.

Head of pain services at Royal Melbourne Hospital Dr Malcolm Hogg said codeine was not a good pain reliever, the body adapted to it, you needed to take more to get relief and when you stopped taking it you were more sensitised to pain.

If taken for extended periods, it could provoke a withdrawal pain problem, he said.

Pain Australia chief executive Carol Bennett warned if people have been using an over-the-counter pain medication for an extended period of time they should get a thorough assessment by their GP to identify the cause of the pain and find ways to manage it.

At least 26 countries require a prescription for codeine-containing products.

The prescription-only rule has the support of GPs, health consumer groups and the Australian Medical Association.

However, the Pharmacy Guild has been trying to circumvent the new rule, asking state governments to allow chemists to be able to continue to supply codeine medicines without a script for the temporary treatment of acute pain under a strict protocol.