THE Health Department has confirmed the down-scheduling of sumatriptan and zolmitriptan to become pharmacist-only medicines, including the creation of Appendix H entries for both of the migraine drugs.
New entries in Schedule 3 provide for sumatriptan when in divided oral preparations containing 50mg or less per dosage unit, and when sold in a pack containing not more than two dosage units.
For zolmitriptan the entry is also for packs of two dosage units, in divided oral preparations containing 2.5mg or less per dose.
Both entries are indicated for the "acute relief of migraine in patients who have a stable, well-established pattern of symptoms".
The Pharmacy Guild of Australia welcomed the move, with National President, George Tambassis, saying it was a good outcome for patients.
"Patients don't know when a migraine is coming on and so have had to try to manage their medicines by having a prescription on hand in case they needed to fill it," Tambassis said.
"This very sensible decision...means that patients who have a stable, well-established pattern of symptoms, will be able to access sumatriptan and zolmitriptan for the acute relief of migraine when and where they need it.
"Importantly, being pharmacist-only medicines will ensure that patients receive the counselling and advice to ensure they are taking the medicine appropriately," he said.
The decisions are effective from 01 Feb 2021, with the Therapeutic Goods Administration noting that the access controls in place for S3 medicines were "appropriate and sufficient to mitigate the misuse of these medicines".
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