The TGA has effectively created a new drug scheduling category for controlled OTC medicines as part of a plan to make more medicines available without a prescription.

Pharmacy lobby groups have already provided a list of suggested downscheduling targets, including trimethoprim and statins.

The TGA says the new subcategory — Schedule 3, Appendix M — has already been added to the scheduling handbook, but it is launching a consultation on what specific controls should be available to protect the public from harm.

For individual drugs listed in the new appendix, pharmacists may have to undergo further training before being allowed to dispense them.