Doctors are preparing to lose access to liquid morphine, with the only brand registered in Australia, Ordine, to be withdrawn from sale early next year.

Drug sponsor Mundipharma says its local manufacturer is ending production and that it is “not commercially viable” to find another.

It will stop distributing the analgesic in Australia from the end of January 2024, and wholesalers are expected to run out of stock by April.

Melbourne paediatric palliative care specialist Dr Bronwyn Sacks said the drug was used “every day” by doctors in her field and the withdrawal could leave children with “poorly managed pain”.