NEWS
22 SEPTEMBER 2025
Stakeholder feedback: Pseudoephedrine sales - due 6 October
AMA Queensland provided summary feedback to Queensland Health on its proposed changes to the recording requirements for S3 pseudoephedrine, including removing the need for pharmacists to electronically record sales of the medicine. The summary feedback is set out below.
- AMA Queensland members have not reported any concerns about current misuse of S3 pseudoephedrine. At the same time, they have not raised access to these medicines as a concern or expressed a desire for decreased regulation or requirements to provide identification upon purchase.
- As such, it is our view that the proposed reforms would be of negligible benefit to patients or doctors but likely of some small benefit to pharmacists and pharmacies in terms of reduced administration requirements. AMA Queensland supports all reforms that reduce the administrative burden on all health practitioners, including pharmacists, provided it does not increase risks for patient safety.
- AMA Queensland has no information to determine if the proposed reforms risk increasing the use of pseudoephedrine for illicit drug manufacture. We therefore suggest Queensland Health consult closely with alcohol and other drug and law enforcement agencies to determine the likely risk of these medicines being used to manufacture illicit substances that pose risks to the community. Should those discussions indicate removal of the current requirements poses a reasonable risk of illicit drug manufacture or other harmful use, AMA Queensland urges Queensland Health to consider what less administratively burdensome methods could be implemented to mitigate that risk, including inclusion on QScript or other sensible reforms. That is preferable to the removal of the current requirements without any alternative method of regulation that could be implemented swiftly should illicit manufacture and other community harms eventuate.