Paracetamol poisonings lead to proposed restrictions, but chronic pain sufferers say they'll pay the price

She's one of 3.6 million Australians that live with chronic pain and among a growing number calling for the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) to consider the flow-on effects of restricted paracetamol access when it meets next week.

"As someone who lives with chronic pain and someone who is currently pregnant, these restrictions would have a massive negative impact on my day-to-day pain management," she said.

Under the recommendations put to the TGA by an independent report, modified-release paracetamol, which is designed for long-term use rather than regular paracetamol used for one-off pain, could be 'upscheduled' so its available by prescription only.

"If I were to encounter a pain flare, or even a simple headache at work, I would be unable to easily access a suitable medicine at my local pharmacy, grocery or convenience store, and it would no doubt affect my overall function and ability to work," Ms Ellis said.

"The requirement to take time off of work to see a GP which, on average, costs me $70 per appointment, would also create further financial barriers ... and can have a negative impact on mental health and overall quality of life."

The report, released in September 2022, was prompted by an increasing incidence of self-poisoning of paracetamol.

That was particularly so among adolescent and young adult females in Australia, with 7729 of the 18,296 poisoning cases reported last year across Queensland, Western Australia, Victoria and New South Wales found to be deliberate.

The recommendations also included regular paracetamol packs to be potentially sold at smaller quantities, only available to adults, and limited to two packs per customer.

Doctor's Reform Society vice president Dr Con Costa said generally, paracetamol was a safe drug and the change could place further stress on an already under-the-pump GP system.

"Obviously if someone goes and takes [a harmful amount], why shouldn't we addressing that issue in society rather than stopping a very common and safe drug if you take them the right way," he said.

"Doctors have got so much on their plate at the moment; they're severely under resourced, dealing with serious chronic conditions and mental health problems and if you're going to start making people come to the doctor for their [paracetamol] that's an even more unnecessary load on the doctor and an unnecessary inconvenience on the patients."

In a statement, TGA said it was undertaking an open and public consultative process in response to the report.

"It is acknowledged that if any changes are made, the way patients access paracetamol may, for example, require a prescription for supply including for those with chronic pain conditions," it said.

The Australian Medical Association and the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners have publicly supported a move to make modified release paracetamol prescription only.

In 2018, TGA upscheduled codeine products to require a prescription.

"Based on the experience in the change in scheduling of codeine, where patients were required to obtain a GP prescription for codeine medications, an increase in GP appointments was not seen," the TGA statement said.

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"Those patients affected were able to obtain their six month [on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme] or 12 month [private] prescriptions for codeine medications at the time of their regular GP appointments."

The TGA advisory committee will meet on November 16 to consider feedback received from the consultation period.

An interim decision is anticipated to be made by February 2023 and will be published on the TGA website, and changes, if any, would likely not be implemented until late 2023 or early 2024.

For Kellie Ellis, she said she hoped the TGA would keep people like her in mind when making its decision.

"Those living with chronic pain are already a disadvantaged and, at times, marginalised community, especially in light of other recent restrictions to the access of pain management medicines," Ms Ellis said.

"Life is also already challenging when you live with chronic pain and the last thing this community needs is further barriers to the everyday management of chronic pain."