Pharmacy Daily | Codeine move fails to tackle addiction

UPSCHEDULING low-dose codeine products to prescription-only is not tackling the issue of addiction, Pharmacy Guild of Australia NSW Branch President, David Heffernan (pictured), says.

Responding to a study by researchers from the University of Sydney, which reported a 50% decline in the monthly rate of codeine-related poisoning calls NSW Poisons Information Centre (PIC) (PD yesterday) since the rescheduling, Heffernan said it was no surprise that there had been a decline, but refuted claims there had been no increase in use of high strength codeine.

"What we do know is that high dose codeine use has gone up," the NSW Guild President said.

Heffernan said prescribing for high strength formulations had climbed by 13%, reversing a previous downward trend in the use of prescription codeine.

"That's hard data," he said.

"The study hasn't shown anything. If you up-schedule [a product] sales will go down; you don't need an academic to tell you that, but there's still an issue with pain treatment.

"Real-time prescription monitoring is essential, because the opioid problem is rising - addiction is the issue and upscheduling did nothing to tackle it."

Australian Medical Association (AMA) Council of General Practice Chair, Dr Richard Kidd, also backed real-time monitoring during an interview with ABC News.

"Real-time prescription monitoring is absolutely needed,"he said.

"Sadly there are still doctor-shoppers who, because of their addictions, are going from doctor to doctor and getting prescriptions - quite often jumping back and forth across state borders, and we're still seeing deaths from that kind of behaviour.

"We know from where real-time prescription monitoring has been in place, like it was in Tasmania for some time, [there has been a] dramatic reduction in deaths... these people are people who've got genuine medical problems and need medical help."

Real-time monitoring has been rolled out in Victoria, Tasmania and the ACT, with plans announced for systems to be introduced in Queensland and South Australia.