Pharmacy Daily | Opioid-harm on the rise

PRESCRIPTION medications including codeine, oxycodone and tramadol, are fuelling a surge in hospitalisations linked to opioid-related harm, new research reveals.

Data from the Monash University Accident Research Centre (MUARC), showed a 3.1% increase in the number of opioid-related presentations to emergency departments in Victoria over the last 10 years.

Researchers found the trend was most pronounced among men aged 45 to 54, with an average annual increase of 7.9% over the course of the decade.

Between 2015/16 and 2017/18 more than half of emergency department presentations linked to opioid use were coded as "intentional self-harm" the researchers said, with 26.1% categorised as "unintentional" while the remaining 22.7% were deemed to be "other and undetermined intent".

Intentional self-harm was highest among 15 to 19-year-old women (71.4%), who were also the largest group for overall opioid-related emergency department presentations.

"During this three-year-period, there were 2,618 ED presentations relating to opioids," they said.

"The most common opioid types were codeine and oxycodone, followed by tramadol."

The researchers said the availability of the recently Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme listed "overdose-reversal" medication, naloxone, could help reduce fatalities, while urging the roll out of prevention strategies.

A Pharmacy Guild of Australia spokesperson told Pharmacy Daily, that the organisation supported the use of naloxone in line with real-time monitoring systems.

"This historical data paints a bleak picture of the rise in harm from misuse of opioids and reinforces the need for national uniform real time recording -- in line with the SafeScript system that has thankfully already been introduced in Victoria," the spokesperson said.

"The Guild also supports the report's recommendation on improving accessibility of the anti-overdose drug naloxone."