Australia’s drug regulator, the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA), says opioids should only be used for the short-term management of severe pain (for example, after surgery) and only when other pain medicines are not suitable or effective, for example in cases where patients can’t tolerate non-steroidal anti-inflammatories such as ibuprofen.
The new regulations say opioids should no longer be prescribed for chronic non-cancer pain, except in “exceptional circumstances”.
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