[penagwin]

(This reply only concerns the US AFAIK).

But who else do we trust? These drugs have the government's approval (FDA) as being safe, and a very large cooperation who makes the drug says it's safe. Did I mention the FDA approved it? What's the alternative here? I know my family doctor can't just run his own studies with drugs, he'd never have the resources for that.

[lr4444lr]

He doesn't have to run his own studies. When patient after patient starts suffering from withdrawal symptoms, and he reads common journals and talks to his peer doctors and other medical professionals about it (let alone the mainstream media reporting), given his training and intelligence, he'd have to be a fool, lazy, or outright unethical not to question the prescribing practices recommended by the manufacturer. There's an ethical responsibility here.

[penagwin]

I'm wondering how often people who become addicted - after prescribed use - tell their doctor (Serious question, I don't have any clue as to what the answer is). Mine specifically seems to be smart enough to avoid opiates if possible, however when I had my wisdom teeth removed (few months ago) they prescribed a bottle of Norco - enough for maybe two weeks or more.

I only took them for less then 3 days - even that was longer then needed (not that I knew this, you don't know how painful the results of the surgery are until you stop the painkiller, which could cause incredible pain you are in pain (physically).

Let's say the doctor doesn't have many client complaints, reads journals and memos that promote opiates (this is called advertising, something J&J spent 3x more money on then research), it seems like there should be an independent organization that researches, tests (or validates studies), and validates the results and usage instructions. Oh wait that's the FDA job.

I want to emphasize my criticism of the FDA's current performance of what I believe their job is: to make sure that the drugs sold do what they say they do, don't cause serious side effects unless they are clearly listed, have dosages that do as they are supposed to (without purposely causing addiction).