Penington Institute calls for pregabalin investigation

A push is underway to have a drug that is increasingly prescribed across Victoria urgently investigated, amid claims that there is growing concern its use was linked to psychiatric damage and suicidal behaviour.

Australia’s Penington Institute is calling for an urgent investigation into pregabalin. Picture: Daniel Acker/Bloomberg News

Australia’s Penington Institute has called for a drug increasingly prescribed for common conditions, and linked to increased suicide risk and overdose deaths, to be urgently investigated.

Anti-convulsant medication pregabalin, better known by its brand name Lyrica, was originally developed as an anti-epilepsy drug but it is now also prescribed for fibromyalgia, anxiety and nerve pain. Fibromyalgia affects up to 5 per cent of the population, mainly young to middle-aged women.

Unpublished data from Penington’s 2019 Annual Overdose Report, supplied to the Sunday Herald Sun, shows deaths associated with pregabalin have increased in both metropolitan Melbourne and regional Victoria.

Pregabalin, better known by its brand name Lyrica, was originally developed as an anti-epilepsy drug but it is now also prescribed for fibromyalgia, anxiety and nerve pain. Picture: JB Reed/Bloomberg News

Penington chief John Ryan told the Sunday Herald Sun there was growing concern pregabalin use was linked to psychiatric damage and suicidal behaviour.

Swedish research had shown people were more likely to become suicidal and to overdose — both accidentally and deliberately — when they were on pregabalin, than when they were not.

“This is not proof of causality but suggests that there an association between pregabalin specifically and these harms,” Mr Ryan said.

The product information for pregabalin noted a rare and adverse side-effect of the drug was suicidal thoughts and behaviour, he said.

Penington was calling for an equivalent research study to that conducted in Sweden, to be carried out on pregabalin in Australia, Mr Ryan said.

An Australian report released late last year into ambulance attendances related to pregabalin misuse states there has been a recent boom in the national prescription rate and pregabalin-related ambulance attendances have increased tenfold since 2012.

“Patients frequently misused pregabalin with other sedatives, particularly benzodiazepines, and almost 40 per cent of misuse-related events requiring paramedic attendance were suicide attempts,” the report states.

Penington chief John says there is growing concern that pregabalin use was linked to psychiatric damage and suicidal behaviour,

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It goes on to say there is a growing black market for pregabalin in populations at high risk of misuse, including in prisons.

Pfizer said patient safety was the company’s top priority.

The conditions pregabalin was used to treat could be debilitating and have a significant impact on the quality of life of patients and their families, a spokeswoman said.

“It is important to note that when prescribed and administered appropriately, as per the approved product information, pregabalin is a very important treatment option for many people living with chronic neuropathic pain and epilepsy,” she said.

Pregabalin was sold in Australia by a number of different companies, including Pfizer, which worked with the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) to regularly review safety data and adverse outcomes for all medicines.

“Pfizer takes the safety of its medicines very seriously and firmly believe that pregabalin is an important treatment option for thousands of Australians living with debilitating nerve pain and epilepsy,” she said.

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