Australia Codeine May Day Approaches

All community pharmacists will be aware that tighter controls on the sale of analgesic products containing codeine will apply across Australia from 1 May 2010.

These changes will have an impact on the day-to-day operations of all community pharmacies, and pharmacies will need to prepare in advance for the changes. The scheduling changes will have professional, staff training and stock management implications.

Detailed fact sheets for pharmacists and staff and other materials have now been loaded onto the Guild website at http://www.guild.org.au/content.asp?id=2696. These materials include suggested actions in relation to stock, labelling and staff preparation.

From 1 May, packs of combination analgesics containing codeine:

˙will not be available as Pharmacy Medicines (S2)

˙will be Pharmacist Only Medicines (S3) when:

。containing up to five days treatment and up to 12mg codeine (15.4mg codeine phosphate) per dosage unit, and

。labelled with a recommended total daily dose of up to 100mg codeine (128mg codeine phosphate

˙will be Prescription Only Medicines (S4) when:

。containing more than five days treatment and/or greater than 12mg codeine (15.4mg codeine phosphate) per dosage unit, or

。labelled with a recommended total daily dose of more than 100mg codeine (128mg codeine phosphate)

In addition, from 1 May combination analgesic products containing codeine:

˙cannot be advertised directly to the consumer

˙in undivided preparations (e.g. mixtures) will be Pharmacist Only Medicines (S3) when they contain up to five days treatment and 0.25% or less of codeine and are labelled with a total daily dose of up to 100mg codeine (128mg codeine phosphate).

Currently available cold and flu products containing codeine will be unaffected by the change.

For further information: Greg Turnbull 0412 910 261