IN AN enthusiastic statement of support for the Therapeutic Goods Administration's (TGA's)upscheduling of products containing codeine from S3 to S4, the Royal Australian College of Physicians (RACP) has made what Pharmacy Guild national president George Tambassis has called, a "remarkable omission".
The RACP statement failed to face the need for any real time recording and reporting of prescription drugs, and Tambassis said that throughout the debate, doctor groups had avoided addressing the issue.
"According to the Penington Institute, between 2008 and 2014 Australia experienced an 87% increase in prescription opioid deaths, with the increase in rural regional Australia a shocking 148%," Tambassis said.
New data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics released this week showed almost 70% of drug-related deaths in Australia in 2016 were the result of prescription drug abuse (PD yesterday).
"Despite this, the medical profession has done little or nothing to bring about a national real time recording and reporting system," Tambassis pointed out.
The Guild introduced the MedsASSIST system in 2016 to record and report on usage, and "so far more than 4,000 pharmacies -- or more than 70% of all PBS-approved pharmacies - are voluntarily using MedsASSIST."
Approximately 9 million transactions have been MedsASSIST recorded, with a sharp reduction in codeine sales, and thousands referred to GPs for further pain management.
The Guild has long proposed a limited upscheduling exception to allow pharmacists to supply them under strict protocols with mandatory real-time recording.
"Let's get real about our commitment to protecting Australians from opioid misuse," Tambassis concluded.
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