An interim ruling from the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) indicates overdose reversal drug naloxone may sold over-the-counter from February 2016.
Naloxone is currently listed in Schedule 4, meaning it requires a prescription.
The TGA received 96 submissions which supported the proposal to down-schedule naloxone in single use pre-filled syringes for injections to Schedule 3. These submissions emphasised that this decision would remove barriers to access, that naloxone is safe and has low to no abuse potental, and is well-tolerated and life-saving.
CREIDU's Professor Paul Dietze has said that making naloxone available over-the-counter would be a 'game-changing' decision.
The final decision will be made in late November, 2015.
More information about the TGA's decision is available here.