CANBERRA: Pain-relieving medicines containing codeine will only be available with a prescription in Australia from February 2018 because of harm caused by overuse, the medicines regulator has decided.
The decision is expected to affect about 25 medicines that patients now buy over the counter, including painkillers like Nurofen Plus, Codral for cold and flu and Mersyndol for period pain. Australia’s Therapeutic Goods Administration said its decision was based on the evidence of harm caused by overuse and abuse of over-the-counter codeine medicines, which are only available with a prescription in the US, most of Europe, Hong Kong, Japan and the UAE.
It says there’s little evidence that codeine-containing medicines are more effective for pain relief than those without. Public consultations revealed many consumers used the products to self-treat chronic pain, frequently becoming addicted to codeine, despite the fact those medicines weren’t intended to treat long-term conditions.
