The Therapeutic Goods Administrator (TGA) has advised that some medicines will change their names to come into line with international medicines. The medicines or their effects will not change. Health Professionals that prescribe medications are asked to take care when prescribing, dispensing and administering medicines to make sure that the right product is selected.
This change will occur over a four year transition period which will end in April 2020. Medicines with labels using the new ingredient names will gradually start to appear on shelves.
What are the types of changes?
Some changes are minor, for example changing a ‘y’ to an ‘i’, and will not affect how the ingredient name is pronounced.
Some changes are more significant. For these products, medicine labels will need to use both the old and new ingredient name for an additional three years after the end of the transition period (until 2023) to help consumers and healthcare professionals become familiar with the new name.
For example, medicines containing lignocaine will need to be dual labelled as ‘lidocaine (lignocaine)’.
Resources
For more information visit www.tga.gov.au/ingredient-names.
Posters and leaflets to help raise awareness of the changes are available to download.
- CLICK HERE for the A3 printable poster
- CLICK HERE for the A4 printable poster
- CLICK HERE for the A6 printable postcards (individual)
- CLICK HERE for the A6 printable postcards (4 imposed onto an A4 sheet)
- CLICK HERE for the TV/Computer wallpaper