[JackCh]

If your friend, like you, had received a powerful narcotic painkiller instead of a diagnosis, might the painkillers have covered up her symptoms and caused her tumors to go unnoticed longer?

I'm very skeptical of the medical industry. Modern medical science is fantastic stuff but as an industry there is something seriously wrong. I think they over-prescribe painkillers on a scale few people would find believable. It's disappointing they aren't applying the skepticism your friend received universally across the board. It would do a lot of good if they did.