CLAIMS by Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt that "up to 100 lives a year could be saved" by last month's upscheduling of OTC codeine products have been debunked by the ABC's 'Fact Check'.
PSA NSW president Professor Peter Carroll and NSW Guild president David Heffernan had previously warned Hunt that the claim was "misleading and without foundation" (PD 19 Jan 2018).
The Fact Check looked at studies on the issue, with key research showing OTC codeine products were only implicated in 16% of the 100 cases, squarely placing the majority burden for fatalities on prescription codeine products.
Carroll told Pharmacy Daily that the upscheduling was very likely to increase the use and potential abuse of codeine given patients will be sourcing from a GP prescription.
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