WE’RE STOCKING UP ON CODEINE

Codeine clamp prompts Geelong residents to buy up big

GEELONG residents are stockpiling codeine pain relief products ahead of new laws that will see over-the-counter codeine medication become prescription-only next month.

Products containing codeine, including Nurofen Plus and Panadeine, which can now be bought over the counter at pharmacies, will become prescription only from February 1.

Dr Michael Vagg, a director at Pain Matrix in Geelong, said codeine was a “very short-acting drug” that gives “pretty unreliable pain relief”.

“It’s been pretty well recog- nised for a long time that nonprescription codeine is really not a very helpful way of managing long-term pain problems,” Dr Vagg said.

“We are hearing reports about people who are very worried about (the change) and who have begun stockpiling codeine.

“Those people, I would really say, that their pain is not being well managed if they’re feeling so desperate that that’s what they’re doing. Their pain needs to be better managed.”

Dr Vagg said that for people who only needed codeine “now and again”, it would be a simple matter of “getting a script off a GP when they go in for something else”.

“It won’t really inconvenience the vast majority of people who use codeine, but having said that, there is an awful lot of codeine use in the country,” he said.

Geelong pharmacist and Pharmacy Guild of Australia representative Nader Mitri also said that people were stockpiling over-the-counter codeine products in the region.

“Patients are worried that it is going to be too difficult for them to obtain codeine-containing products to manage their mild pain after February 1,” Mr Mitri said.

“In addition, they are concerned with waiting times to visit general practitioners in Geelong and the extra cost as- sociated. He advised people who use codeine to visit their GPs and pharmacists to discuss their pain.

“Your health care professional can provide advice on managing pain or may recommend alternative pain relief medications,” Mr Mitri said.

Dr Vagg said that the change would cause an increase in demand for chronic pain services.

“I think Geelong is better placed than a lot of areas to deal with that because we already have quite a good chronic pain infrastructure compared to a lot of places,” he said.

The Therapeutic Goods Administration in late 2016 an- nounced its decision to make over-the-counter codeine products prescription-only.

“Low dose codeine-containing medicines are not intended to treat long-term conditions, however public consultation indicated that many consumers used these products to selftreat chronic pain,” the TGA said in a statement at the time.

“This meant that consumers frequently became addicted to codeine.

“The TGA decision-maker also took into consideration that there is little evidence that low-dose codeine medicines are any more effective for pain relief or cough than similar medicines without codeine.”

“It’s been pretty well recognised for a long time that non-prescription codeine is really not a very helpful way of managing long-term pain problems.” DOCTOR MICHAEL VAGG