The National Rural Health Alliance has backed the law to restrict the supply of codeine-based drugs to prescription-only, but a Young Pharmacist says law-abiding citizens are now worse off.
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Medication that contains codeine including Codral for cold and flu, painkillers like Nurofen Plus and Mersyndol for period pain are now only available by going to the doctor and obtaining a prescription.
Young pharmacist David Hamblin said the ban has disadvantaged law-abiding citizens.
Mr Hamblin said he backs the ban but thinks the government should collaborate with pharmacists to supply smaller doses of codeine and paracetamol for pain relief in emergency situations.
"There should have been a ban, but there should still be an area within the supply of codeine where certain pharmacies could provide small quantities of combination codeine and paracetamol for those emergency pain relief situations," he said.
"We tried to lobby the government with this suggestion, and they didn't want to have anything to do with it.
"The way it works now the taxpayer is paying $33 each time someone visits the doctor to get a script, we don't cost the taxpayer anything to be open, and we could provide small doses of six or twelve pills for those who are in emergency situations.
"Drug addicts need much larger amounts of 24 or 48 pills, and we already had a program in place where we were monitoring the use of codeine, and it cost the taxpayer nothing and it was working."
The National Rural Health Alliance, Australia’s peak non-government organisation for rural and remote health, recently released the results of a survey that found out-of-pocket medical expenses for some country people amounted to thousands of dollars a year.
The Alliance’s chief executive officer Mark Diamond said people in regional areas faced long waits and had limited treatment options.
Mr Diamond said even though rural patients had less access to bulk-billed services, and seeking specialist treatments was complicated by distance and cost, they still backed the ban.
“The Alliance knows that some country people use codeine-containing medicines, and now have to visit a doctor for a prescription," he said.
"But the harms and risks associated with codeine are high.
“It’s made from poppies and is related to morphine. People using medicines containing codeine for chronic pain have become addicted without even knowing it.
“We believe a doctor needs to weigh up the risk versus the benefit.”
Craig Thomson
I am a media and communications professional with experience across print, digital, social and radio broadcasts. I am currently the Editor of Australian Community Media's Launceston Examiner.
I am a media and communications professional with experience across print, digital, social and radio broadcasts. I am currently the Editor of Australian Community Media's Launceston Examiner.
