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Pharmacy in Practice

EDX/20/1154
Date of prep: December 2020

Prescribing information and
adverse events reporting

For healthcare professionals only

All over the counter opiates should be made prescription only

13th September 2020 by PIP editor Leave a Comment

 

In response to the following article:

 

“GPhC sanction six pharmacies over ‘high volume’ codeine sales”

 

Dear PIP Editor,

 

In New Zealand, all codeine products will be prescription-only from November 5th this year. This move means New Zealand will shortly follow Australia which went prescription only two years ago.

 

The harms and addiction with codeine outweigh the benefits of over the counter supply. There is no evidence that ibuprofen, and codeine combinations or paracetamol and codeine combinations produce better pain relief than ibuprofen and paracetamol combinations apart from the slight neuropathic pain advantage of codeine. Long term pain relief should be supervised by a GP or specialist.

 

As for the codeine linctus mentioned in this story it has never been available for sale in New Zealand. Gees linctus has recently been changed to prescription-only status because of the potential of abuse and addiction.

 

The Same people often continue to buy or request OTC opiates and can be very persuasive. The persistence can put pharmacists under pressure to supply.

 

It would be a good idea to make all opiates prescription only to reduce levels of addiction in the community and for regular uses of opiates to be better managed by GPs who can facilitate those people who are addicted to opiate addiction treatment centres.

 

Your etc,

 

Mark Robinson

 

Pharmacist

 

New Zealand

 

 

The PIP team would love to know your views on over the counter opiates. Answer the questions below and with your permission, we will publish your response to this story as a letter to the editor.

 

We'll use your email address only to get back in touch with you after filling in this form.
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We welcome all contributions and personal opinions are encouraged but please do make sure you back up any claims with suitable references.

 

 

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Filed Under: Letters to the editor Tagged With: New Zealand, OTC codeine

About PIP editor

Pharmacy in Practice is a UK pharmacy publication with its roots in Scotland.

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