Naloxone to be made available over the counter in Australia

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Naloxone to be made available over the counter in Australia

28 October 2015
Talking Drugs

Jennifer Neuman

A recent ruling in Australia could result in naloxone, the life-saving drug that reverses opioid overdoses, being available without prescription from February 2016.

The interim ruling, made by the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA), moves naloxone from Schedule 4 to Schedule 3, removing physical and legal barriers for those most in need of access to the life-saving medication, while also making it possible for families and friends of drug users to obtain naloxone to keep on hand. One of the reasons provided for the decision is the following:

"Benefits of rescheduling naloxone for reversal of opioid overdose to Schedule 3 include that products would be supplied labelled with full and clear instructions for use, understandable by consumers. People who need naloxone would be able to obtain it more easily, which is likely to decrease the proportion of (deliberate or accidental, usually illicitly obtained) opioid overdoses that result in death. Increased accessibility would also potentially reduce morbidity due to opioid overdose, such as hypoxic brain damage."

As it currently stands, those who seek access to naloxone need to visit a doctor and admit to using opioids in order to receive a prescription.

When it comes to opioids, heroin has historically been the most misused in Australia, though there has been concern about an uptick in the rate of overdoses related to prescription painkillers in recent years.

In 2011 the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre (NDARC) reported 683 opioid-related deaths and the rate of fatal opioid overdose in Australia to be 30.5 deaths per million, highlighting the need for unrestricted access to naloxone. In 2012, the amount of drug overdose deaths outnumbered the amount of deaths from road accidents (1,427 and 1,338 respectively). Opioids are estimated to account for around 650 overdose deaths on an annual basis.

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