Private scripts for opioids soar

While there has been a 33 per cent reduction in PBS dispensing claims for opioid analgesics as part of a Federal Government push to curb use of the drugs, about a quarter of the drop was offset by a 55 per cent jump in private scripts for the medicines.

New research published in the International Journal of Drug Policy found Australia's use of prescription opioid analgesics, such as oxycodone, morphine, or tramadol, dropped by 21 per cent between 2015 and 2022, however, these statistics do not capture private scripts or medicines supplied to public hospital inpatients.

To get a clearer picture of population-level trends in prescription opioid use, the researchers used data from IQVIA which collects information on medicine sales to pharmacies, hospitals and other healthcare settings by pharmaceutical wholesalers and manufacturers.