Paracetamol pack sizes and availability are changing. Here’s what you need to know
Paracetamol pack sizes and availability are changing. Here’s what you need to know
Long-anticipated changes to how Australians buy paracetamol are on their way in a bid to reduce harms. Here’s what’s changing.
From February 1, packs sold in supermarkets and places other than pharmacies will reduce from a maximum 20 tablets to 16 tablets per pack.
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In all jurisdictions except Queensland and Western Australia, packs sold in pharmacies larger than 50 tablets will move behind the pharmacy counter and can only be sold under pharmacist supervision. In Queensland and WA, products containing more than 16 tablets will only be available from behind the pharmacy counter and sold under pharmacist supervision.In all jurisdictions, any packs containing more than 50 tablets will need to be sold in blister packs, rather than bottles.
Several paracetamol products are not affected by these changes. These include children’s products, slow-release formulations (for example, “osteo” products), and products already behind the pharmacy counter or only available via prescription.
These changes have been introduced to reduce the risk of poisonings from people exceeding recommended doses. The overall safety profile of paracetamol has not changed.
Paracetamol is still available from all current locations and there are no plans to make it prescription-only or remove it from supermarkets altogether.
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How can we reduce paracetamol poisoning? Better access to mental health services? Nah. Let's make them buy two boxes instead of one. That will do it.
What a joke.
really smacks of less caring about accidental overdoses and more about squeezing profits
The TGA is a government agency, so there's no clear profit motive unless you think they're so corrupt as to be weighing industry requests over public health (which hey, I guess with everything else going on I guess I wouldn't be too hard on you for).
well Skerrit went straight from head of the TGA to the board of Medicines Australia - whose entire purpose is representing and lobbying for pharmaceutical companies. There's a finger up someone's pie all right.