New rules around opioid prescriptions leave few options for Australians in pain
ABCDuring the two years Don Firth spent building his underground home, he took delivery of 14 truckloads of rock, made the mud bricks for the interior by hand and personally carried two semi-trailers worth of concrete blocks to the site. Key points: In June 2020, the Government changed how opioid medication could be prescribed Large quantities of opioids or repeat prescriptions can no longer be used for chronic pain Consumer groups say the changes have had serious consequences for millions of Australians The result was a stone house, built into the side of a hill in the Bega Valley. Mr Firth now gets by with a low dose opioid pain medication for when he has "overdone it", and last year discovered he would need a new doctor's prescription for each packet of 20 pills. "Chronic pain is very complicated, and it's much easier to just get rid of the problem by taking away the opioids, but that's destroying lives," Ms Monty said. "The issue isn't that opioids should never be used for chronic pain, but the patient selection needs to be done very carefully," Dr Nielsen said.
History of this topic
Chronic pain patients struggle to get opioid prescriptions filled, even as CDC eases guidelines
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CDC updates opioid prescribing guidelines with new recommendations on tapering or continuing prescriptions
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