Northern Advocate
  • Northern Advocate home
  • Latest news
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Sport
  • Property
  • Video
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
  • Sport
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Residential property listings

Locations

  • Far North
  • Kaitaia
  • Kaikohe
  • Bay of Islands
  • Whangārei
  • Kaipara
  • Mangawhai
  • Dargaville

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

Weather

  • Kaitaia
  • Whangārei
  • Dargaville

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Northern Advocate

North use of strong painkillers queried

Catherine Gaffaney
By Catherine Gaffaney
Reporter·Northern Advocate·
14 Apr, 2015 10:00 PM2 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Northland District Health Board is investigating the use of opioids in the region.

Northland District Health Board is investigating the use of opioids in the region.

Northland District Health Board is investigating the region's use of strong painkillers after a national commission found the prescription rate was much higher than some parts of the country.

Northland had the fourth highest rate of strong opioid use in the country after Wairarapa, Nelson-Marlborough and Bay of Plenty.

The figures came from the Health Quality and Safety Commission's Atlas of Healthcare Variation, a new database of health services and outcomes. The doses were dispensed from community pharmacies in 2013, and did not include drugs given in hospitals.

However, nearly half of those given the strong opioids had been treated at a public hospital in the week before.

Strong opioids include methadone, morphine, fentanyl and oxycodone. Commonly used weak opioids include codeine, tramadol and dihydrocodeine.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Northland DHB physician Dr Alan Davis said the DHB wasn't yet sure why its use of strong opioids was higher than the national average.

"While it seems likely that changing disease patterns and an ageing population has led to some increase in need, some parts of the country get by with much lower levels of use," he said. "We are seeking to understand why."

The DHB was focused on reducing the harms of such painkillers, he said.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"We know that opioids frequently cause unpleasant side effects such as nausea, vomiting and constipation. These can be so severe as to cause people to be admitted to hospital. We will be looking to reduce the use in this setting and use other treatment strategies for people at high risk of adverse events."

Dr Davis, also chairman of the commission's expert advisory group, said opioids were effective in managing pain but were also the class of medicine most often implicated in patient harm - including addiction or over-sedation. "The question is, do we need to use strong opioids as much as we do?"

The lowest rates of strong opioid use were at the Capital and Coast, Auckland and Canterbury district health boards.

The commission also found women were dispensed significantly more strong and weak opioid drugs. Use increased with age, and people of European ethnicity had two to four times higher use of strong opioids than Maori, Pacific or Asian people.

Discover more

Surprise P lab discovery near Okaihau

23 Mar 11:17 PM

Principal charged with drug possession

27 Mar 05:00 PM

Ebola's peak over, says Kiwi

15 Apr 09:36 PM

No jab, no benefit: Northland doctor

15 Apr 07:30 PM
Save

    Share this article

Latest from Northern Advocate

Premium
Opinion

Joe Bennett: Hungarian barman shares fears for future

04 Jul 05:00 PM
Northern Advocate

'Major concern': 200 children lack safe beds in Northland

04 Jul 05:00 PM
Opinion

Why being physically active is good for student learning – John Wansbone

04 Jul 05:00 PM

There’s more to Hawai‘i than beaches and buffets – here’s how to see it differently

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Northern Advocate

Premium
Joe Bennett: Hungarian barman shares fears for future

Joe Bennett: Hungarian barman shares fears for future

04 Jul 05:00 PM

I visited Budapest last in the 1980s when it was under communist rule.

On The Up: McKay leads Samoa's green transport with solar-powered electric catamarans

On The Up: McKay leads Samoa's green transport with solar-powered electric catamarans

04 Jul 05:00 PM
'Major concern': 200 children lack safe beds in Northland

'Major concern': 200 children lack safe beds in Northland

04 Jul 05:00 PM
Why being physically active is good for student learning – John Wansbone

Why being physically active is good for student learning – John Wansbone

04 Jul 05:00 PM
From early mornings to easy living
sponsored

From early mornings to easy living

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • The Northern Advocate e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Northern Advocate
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The Northern Advocate
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP