Temporary Reprieve for Codeine

Last month, the Department of Health's medicines scheduling delegate made an interim decision to support a proposal to re-schedule combination analgesics and cold and flu remedies from Schedules 2 and 3 (pharmacy and pharmacist-only) to Schedule 4 (prescription-only) analgesics.
This has been very unpopular with consumers with 127 public submissions and with only 14 of those in favor of the up-scheduling of codeine analgesics. 

Pain relievers to be Prescription only?

It is proposed that the current Schedule 3 codeine entry be rescheduled to Schedule 4, “due to potential issues of morbidity, toxicity and dependence”.

Re-scheduling Codeine to cause Inconvenience and Extra expense

Re-scheduling will lead not only to greater inconveniece when you are in pain, but you may need make an appointment with your GP and pay for that consolutation as well. But the Pharmacy Guild of Australia said codeine products did make a difference,

Medical Cannabis Trial

New South Wales government is set to do Australia’s first trial for the medical use of cannabis.  University of New South trial Wales’ Chief Investigator Associate Professor Meera Agar – who has led several research studies into the management of terminally ill patients – will lead the research team and focus on how medicinal cannabis can improve poor appetite and appetite-related symptoms, such as nausea, in terminally ill adult cancer patients in their final stages of life.