TGA opens consultation on the use of prescription opioids for pain

With the opioid abuse situation now spreading to many countries beyond the USA, Australia's medicines' regulator, the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA), has issued a discussion paper on the use and misuse of prescription strong opioids such as oxycodone and whether there is a need for specific regulatory responses.

Levels of prescription opioid overdose, including accidental overdose are at record levels in Australia and internationally, the TGA noted. One of the contributing factors has been significant "indication creep," such as their widespread use in chronic non-cancer pain, despite limited evidence of efficacy or safety for opioids in many of those patients.

Any potential regulatory changes by the TGA would need to be part of a broader process to address the problems with excessive or inappropriate use of opioids. While practice change by prescribers and changes in community expectations about how consumers use prescription opioids for pain would have a major impact on appropriate opioid use, regulation has an important role to play.