However, as a community pharmacist in Karen Carter Chemist for 26 years I believe that the vast majority of people in our community use these products safely to treat acute, short term pain such as migraine, toothache and period pain.

If the proposed change goes ahead I believe it will force some in our community to suffer unnecessary pain because if they wish to use the products they will have to wait to get a doctor’s appointment.

As a pharmacist I will no longer be able to supply the products to anyone without a doctor’s prescription.

We must also remember that alternative OTC analgesics containing ibuprofen, such as Maxigesic and Nuromol, will not be a safe option for many people because of their current medical conditions, or the other medications they are taking.

If the rescheduling goes ahead it will leave many in our community without an effective OTC treatment for their toothache, period pain or migraine or other short term pain conditions.

I have introduced into our pharmacy a RealTime monitoring system which allows us to track all of our sales of OTC analgesics containing codeine. This system has also been introduced into the majority of pharmacies in NSW, and it allows pharmacists to identify those people who may be misusing the products, and offer them counselling and referral to a doctor or other health care professional for further assessment and appropriate care.

This decision to make the products only available on prescription can be changed as the NSW Health Minister, Brad Hazzard, can regulate to allow pharmacists to give people in acute pain a limited three day supply in conjunction with mandating real time monitoring that is already in place in the majority of pharmacies.

If Mr Hazzard does this it will allow pharmacists to identify and help those people who may be misusing the products, while at the same time allowing the vast majority of people who use the products appropriately and safely for the short term treatment of acute pain continued access to the products without a prescription.

State MPs have the power to help people in pain by simply asking Mr Hazzard to make this change. With the clock ticking towards 1 st February, we are issuing an urgent call to any local people who share our concerns to contact Kevin Anderson MP Member for Tamworth and Hon. Brad Hazzard, 02 8574 6000, office@hazzard.minister.nsw.gov.au so that they may represent you at the State level where there is still scope for a more common sense solution, as outlined above, to be regulated.

Karen Carter, Gunnedah

Just ridiculous, why fix something that’s not broke? You can’t control Mother Nature, and when it floods not only can’t you use the grounds while flooding,afterwards you wouldn’t be able to use them due to all the debris and germs from dead carcasses and the snakes that would be very active because of the water. I acknowledge that it doesn’t flood all the time but when it does it’s thousands of dollars of damage and treatment that will have to be seen too. The grounds to my understanding were gifted from Mr Longmuir to the ALL the people of Gunnedah not a selected few, where does a council get to over ride something that was left to a community from a very generous man and his family. And we haven’t even started to bring in the safety factor, you go to watch your children play their sports and most people have other little ones with them, Longmuir fields are fence so it has that security of been able to turn your back for a few seconds to watch your child on the field.

Instead of pouring continuous money into the Donnelly fields that us as ratepayers will have to pay or the parents of the children get stung with some sort of surcharge (which from memory dealing with junior league we had to pay x amount of money per head for the use and upkeep of the fields) added to their child’s fees that they already pay, how about finding another place to put the equestrian centre and then it’s only 1 sport that is been affected, not a number of sports.

Barbara Kelly, Gunnedah

Recently this writer became aware that the Gunnedah Council voted to introduce fluoride into the town’s water supply. This letter is expressly for the residents who might like to read of a Queensland experience. When in 1994 four small councils were merged into Warwick suddenly debt became the order of the day. Later, that merger took in Stanthorpe and now council debt stands at $33 million. For many years fluoride was mentioned but not introduced, however there was strong resistance from the community toward its  introduction. There are many costs apart from the the fluoride itself and in this shire the installation of the asolution plant was estimated between $35,000,000 and $40,000,000 way back in the early 2000s. The facility to store this dangerous ‘substance’ was massively expensive. Each 1000-litre bulky bin cost was, back in 2006, $300,000. 

Under heavy pressure The Southern Downs Regional Council decided to conduct a water fluoridation survey in 2014. When two-thirds of the shire voted for it to be removed, councillors who voted for its introduction apologised and took responsibility for its introduction. Perhaps Gunnedah has councillors who feel rate payers could be surveyed!

Melba Morris, Allora