Pharmacy Daily | SHPA welcomes opioid restrictions

RECOMMENDATIONS designed to improve medicines safety and restrict the prescribing of opioids made by the Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee (PBAC) are being welcomed by the Society of Hospital Pharmacists of Australia (SHPA).

The PBAC recommendations include the restricted benefit listings for smaller maximum quantities of immediate-release opioids listed on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS).

SHPA CEO, Kristin Michaels, said the policy shift was timely and necessary to improve quality use of medicines and medicines safety.

"Amid many data points, our 2018 report found more than 70% of hospitals frequently supplied opioids for patients to take home 'just in case', even when they had not required them in the 48 hours prior to discharge, which has the potential to lead to preventable harm.

"These new changes, recommended following advice from the TGA's Opioid Regulatory Advisory Group (ORAG) of which SHPA is a member, are key to reducing the prescribing and dispensing of opioids in quantities that are in excess of patient need.

"SHPA members, including medicines experts on our Pain Management Leadership Committee, look forward to collaborating with government and healthcare partners on education and awareness campaigns, changes to clinical guidelines and ongoing prescription and compliance monitoring."

PBAC also noted that the TGA had revised the indications of several opioid analgesics to broadly categorise them into opioids for acute and chronic severe pain, and that the TGA would be requiring sponsors to register new smaller pack sizes for some immediate-release opioid analgesics, a measure first announced at SHPA's 2019 Medicines Leadership Forum.

Michaels heralded the announcement as a win for grassroots member advocacy that is cognizant of the ongoing pain management needs of Australians.

"While we recognise the important role opioids play in providing pain relief for many people, the documented high number of deaths and hospitalisations caused by prescription opioids in Australia is unethical and untenable and we thank our members who contributed crucially relevant frontline data that helped inform these PBAC recommendations," she said.