Dispensing rates of opioids have skyrocketed as some become addicted via prescriptions then hit the dark web for their fix. Still governments have been slow to act.
Australia’s ban on over-the-counter codeine has dramatically reduced the number of overdoses and cut sales of the painkiller in half.
The drug was swapped out for a saltwater solution that would have done nothing to ease the pain of critical patients.
Three Australians died from an opioid-related overdose each day in 2018,while suicides among Indigenous people have increased,new ABS causes of death data shows.
A landmark Lancet series published earlier this month confirmed poorly managed post-surgery pain is a major contributor to the “global opioid crisis”.
When researchers analysed what drugs were for sale from six dark web markets this year,they were shocked by the “alarming” amounts of fentanyl and carfentanil.
Deniz knew something was seriously wrong when she woke up at 5am and passed out. She had missed her dose of codeine by no more than half an hour.
Rising numbers of Australians are dying from accidentally overdosing on prescription drugs morphine,codeine and oxycodone,the latest drug deaths data shows.