Prescribed drug ODs on the rise in Oz

SYDNEY (AAP) - The number of Australians overdosing intentionally, or by accident, on prescribed drugs, is reportedly on the rise.
And it's not just the people taking too many opioids, drugs that have morphine-like effects.
Wallabies have been getting stuck in to the opium poppy crops in Tasmania, where some 500 farmers grow the plant to supply the pharmaceutical market with about half of the world's raw material for morphine and other opioids.
The animals have been spotted chewing on the heads of the plant, hopping around in circles and sitting around looking lethargic and "stoned," Australian professor Pam Macintyre said.
Opioids are the most commonly prescribed form of post-operative pain treatment, she told a conference of health professionals gathered in Hong Kong on Friday.
And there use is set to continue growing.
The increase could be justified as patients are heading home from hospital earlier and more complex procedures are being carried out.
But the challenges this presents prompted the topic for discussion at a meeting of Australian and New Zealand doctors, as they tried to nut out ways to ultimately eliminate opioids as pain killers.
It's difficult to find exact figures on their use in Australia, but, data based on prescriptions indicated that from 1992 to 2007, use of the pain killers trebled.
"In Australia, reports of opioid overdoses, unintentional or intentional have been increasing," said Prof Macintyre, an acute pain expert from Royal Adelaide Hospital.
She said coronial reports indicate in 2000, one form of opioid was linked to three deaths in Australia. Nine years later, that same drug was tied to 2000 fatalities.
The risk of prescription drugs made headlines recently when they were associated to the high profile deaths of Michael Jackson, Heath Ledger and Anna Nicole Smith.
Prof Macintyre said in most cases, drugs prescribed with a limited use weren't a problem.
"(But) in a small minority there is the potential for prescribed opiates to be misused or diverted, not just by the patient but sometimes by others," she said.
Newcastle-based doctor, Chris Hayes, told the conference the key was coming up with a plan of attack to taper patients off hard medication as their pain, and need for management, ceased.
"Typically the suggestion is made that the opioid can be continued for three to six months," Dr Hayes said.
Most of the health experts will stay in humid Hong Kong for the four day Combined Scientific Meeting kicking off on Saturday.