The Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) has launched a campaign to encourage people to return their unused prescription pain relief medicines to their local chemist.
In a statement, the TGA said nearly 150 people were hospitalised in Australia every day as a result of the adverse effects of opioid pain medicines.
“Australians who are prescribed painkillers and don’t use them all are advised not to keep them ‘just in case’ or for use down the track,” the TGA said.
“Keeping unused prescription pain medication in the home is dangerous for children and pets if accidently consumed, and can be a target for theft and misuse.”
It said that unused pain relief medication, like all medicines, could be returned to a local pharmacy for safe disposal free of change.
“We are rolling out a social media campaign and working directly with pharmacies to promote this service,” the TGA said.
“This is an important aspect of work being taken by the TGA to reduce the potential adverse impacts of opioids on the health of Australians.”
It said the decision to up-schedule codeine to Prescription Only Medicine status last year had led to a significant decrease in the number of products supplied to Australian patients.
“Analysis of medicine sales data shows the total volume of products containing codeine supplied in Australia during 2018 was around 50 per cent lower than the average total supplied in the previous four years,” the Administration said.
