Elsie Lange
Jean Cheney, a chronic pain sufferer living in Macedon, says having a backup supply of paracetamol makes a “huge difference” to her life, so proposals to impose further restrictions on its sale are concerning.
“It’s part of my daily routine, it’s almost as important as my morning coffee … [it’s about] being able to access what I need without leaving the house, especially in Macedon,” she said.
Following an independent expert report on the risks of intentional self poisoning with paracetamol, which was released in September for public consultation, the Therapeutic Goods Administration will meet on November 16 to discuss the scheduling of the painkiller.
The expert report found there were increasing rates of paracetamol self poisoning, with the “greatest proportion of cases in adolescents and young adults, and females being significantly over-represented”.
The report made seven recommendations to the TGA to inform scheduling discussions, including pack sizing and number limits, modified release paracetamol and 18+ age restrictions on purchases.
According to the report, about 95 per cent of sales of paracetamol tablets consisted of one or two packs. It recommended making this the maximum number of packs which can be bought in a transaction.
“[This would] almost certainly reduce home stockpiles, and likely also reduce the number of very large overdoses, which have much higher morbidity and risk of death,” the report said.
However, for severe endometriosis sufferers like Ms Cheney, restricting pack sizes and purchase limits would make her everyday battle with chronic pain worse.
She is grateful to have large quantities of paracetamol available in her home, and that she can purchase it all at once. When the pain for her incurable condition is extreme, she takes the maximum dosage of paracetamol – six to eight tablets a day.
“When you have a chronic situation like I and many other people do, the level of frustration gets higher and higher, you sit there and you think for f**k’s sake, this is just getting ridiculous,” she said.
“It’s just those little inconveniences that add up, they affect your mental health and it becomes an extra hassle.
“It’s hard enough to get any type of pain meds at all for endometriosis … They say, ‘Just have a heat pack’, but I want to stop giving myself burns on my stomach and thighs.”
Pain Australia chief executive Giulia Jones said there are 3.4 million Australians living with chronic pain, some like Ms Cheney who would have to return to the supermarket every four days to keep up the dosage they need to function.
“That’s not realistic for people on low incomes who need to buy their medicines on payday,” she said.
She said Pain Australia opposes the first four recommendations of the report mentioned above, but supports the final three regarding communication around harms, follow-up care after self harm and increasing awareness about the safer storage of medicines and reducing stockpiling.
“The problem with the proposals that have been made is while they have been well intentioned, they have not involved people who rely on paracetamol in the process of coming up with these proposals,” she said.
The TGA told Star Weekly that as the delegate of the Department of Health and Aged Care secretary, it would make an interim decision by February 2023, to be published on the TGA website.
“The delegate’s interim decision will be subject to a further round of public consultation and the delegate will consider those further submissions before making a final decision. Changes, if any, would likely not be implemented until late 2023 or early 2024,” the TGA said.
If you, or anyone you know needs mental health support, contact Lifeline on 13 11 14.
