Public consultation on proposed amendments to the Poisons Standard (paracetamol) - ACMS, November 2022

I agree with Option 1C but would also add another option to that

As well as continuing to supply in blister packs from all points of purchase, there should also be the option in making paracetamol available in child-safe bottles like what is available for ibuprofen in the Redacted textbrand. This is more needed for larger quantities (48, 50, 96 and 100 tablets) which should only be made available in pharmacies. If there is the concern regarding the supply of larger quantities of paracetamol to the general public, then the option of child-safe bottles should be exhausted. There are other non-prescription medications available in blister packs which also pose a high risk if consumers overdose

I think the maximum quantity should be 20 x 500mg tablets/capsules for preparations for general sale. There is no screening in grocery stores. In some stores, however, there is a system where customers have a maximum amount they can buy in one transaction. It won’t stop customers shopping from store to store if they want to deliberately overdose. Perhaps a survey should also be done for this to see if people do resort to these techniques

This is a vague option. I agree with Option 3A, but depending on the quantities and where.
For example, in pharmacies, I think up to two boxes of 20 x 500mg can be issued. 40 tablets are a Schedule 2 listed item at the moment. It is up to the pharmacist to determine and make a decision on how much to supply, based on patient assessment. Supplying more than two boxes for any quantity I don’t agree with.

One box of 20 x 500mg should only be supplied at general sales as there is no screening for these purchases

Based on my previous answer where 20 x 500mg paracetamol tablets can be sold at non-Pharmacy outlets and only one box of this quantity can be supplied

I think it should be made available to the public, especially when needed for emergencies and when a pharmacy is not available. I don’t think it’s fair to deny a self-selection. If it was a higher quantity, then this should only be available in pharmacies

If anything, allow a display and self-selection and should the customer take more than the maximum (let’s say they take two boxes instead of one) then the checkout staff should explain to the customer that only one box can be purchased at a time. This is a time for customers to go to pharmacies for higher quantity purchase

As long as customer is of sound mind and can make decisions. I think this approach is most suitable for general sale but could also be applied to pharmacies (could potentially stretch this to 16 for pharmacies as long as they’re of sound mind)

This will be denying many people another treatment that could be appropriate for them. Ridiculous and totally disagree with this proposal

When paracetamol with codeine was rescheduled in 2018, it was a frustrating time for both patient and pharmacist. In all honesty, it should have stayed as a Schedule 3 but as a recordable item (which it was but the program used was extremely poor. It would have been a better benefit to both practitioners and patients if it was recorded like pseudoephedrine sales which is through Project Stop). The re-scheduling did not make a difference from when it was implemented

There are other medications that I worry about. One example is Redacted textwhich is readily available in 200 tablets. There is a potential for overdose which could also be fatal, yet it is unscheduled. Redacted textis still available and is generally misused when in the wrong hands (which is becoming more frequent)

If there is a concern for overdose, the pack container should be different such as child-safe bottles. There should also be highlighted on the box/bottle the maximum quantity in 24 hours. There should be smaller size options as it’s only available in 96 tablets

This is why there are pharmacists to, check whether sales are appropriate for both indication and quantity

Changing the scheduling should then be followed by changing the scheduling for all medicines which doesn’t make sense. Therefore I don’t support the proposal