Many say that big Pharma corporations have a large share of the responsibility because they began promoting strong pain killers heavily, starting in the 90s [1]. Now it has become part of American culture (doctors, patients, pharmacistse etc) to treat any pain with these pain killers. It’ll cost a lot and take a long time to reverse that [2]
At the same time, know that every time a politician gets a bullet point on his re-election flier for "fighting the opioid epidemic" or "keeping our streets clean", there are real people in real pain who get stranded without the medication they need to function.
After the birth of my youngest child, my wife spent the immediate recovery period blindsided by pain because new regulations meant the hospital was unwilling to prescribe opioid medication for "routine" things like an uncomplicated childbirth. She didn't have to deal with that for any of our other children, because back then, the hospital was willing to administer these medications.
Medicine is already over 8% of GDP, but the political complex is not satisfied with that -- every day it gets harder and more expensive to stay on the right side of the law while obtaining necessary medications.
In Florida, it is now unlawful for a physician to write for more than 3 days of narcotic painkillers (if there are extenuating circumstances, this can be pushed to a week, but the rationale must be documented and approved by at least one other physician, iirc). If your pain hasn't subsided in 3 days, you need to make another appointment -- which means paying another copay, or if uninsured, paying another out-of-pocket office visit -- to get a refill.
If you require pain medication for a chronic condition, you now, by law, have to acquire a separate doctor who specializes in "pain management"; your family doctor is legally not allowed to write for more. Good luck finding an appointment at a reputable pain management clinic within 3 months.
This is not a simple thing, and these medications continue to be prescribed because they help a great deal of people, relatively few of whom descend into addiction (and note that many who do go to the streets are driven there because their docs or pharmacists got spooked by the DEA and cut them off, leaving them in mind-numbing pain, or because they couldn't afford the substantial financial and social costs required to get controlled Rxs renewed and refilled on an ongoing basis).
I have a friend that went to med school and has a back issue. He basically needs some pain killers 2-3 days a year. At one point he literally considered going to one of those shady pill mill "pain clinics" just to have something on hand for the rare cases he needed it.
Ive honestly considered looking into dark web markets for a different (non opioid) drug I was taking for 10 years consistently. Multiple doctor's kept trying to have someone else deal with it due to DEA paperwork. I once had a doctor actually say "who sent you here, did someone tell you about me?"... My response was "my insurance company and you are 3 blocks away from my apartment.". It was very awkward considering I said I would release any necessary medical records etc.
The public often expects strong painkillers rather than dealing with extreme pain. You can request less extreme painkillers and use less than prescribed.
Doctors can’t directly measure pain so while the have an important role, they can’t do it alone.
On top of that drug companies had a strong incentive to change the culture around pain and succeeded.
The illegal drug market thrives via specific and changeable laws.
People doping illegal drugs have a direct moral responsibility to their customers, but frankly they are already breaking the law so you can only expect so much.
Illegal drug users often seek out stronger highs resulting in their deaths. Seeking treatment is a possibility for these users.
At the end of the day the patients are the only ones taking the pills, no matter how you look at things.
It's personal responsibility first of all. I don't want to live in a world where I need prescription or permission to do anything that is potentially risky to my health. What happened to the idea that you are responsible for your actions? We already have too much prohibition and government picking and choosing what is and what isn't allowed in your life.
No, it's not the same thing at all. I'm not saying doctors are causing overdoses. I was answering the previous comment putting the blame on pharma companies mainly, which is ridiculous because doctors are the only ones who are able to prescribe anything. The fact that they let themselves be corrupted by pharma companies is totally THEIR responsibility.
After the birth of my youngest child, my wife spent the immediate recovery period blindsided by pain because new regulations meant the hospital was unwilling to prescribe opioid medication for "routine" things like an uncomplicated childbirth. She didn't have to deal with that for any of our other children, because back then, the hospital was willing to administer these medications.
Medicine is already over 8% of GDP, but the political complex is not satisfied with that -- every day it gets harder and more expensive to stay on the right side of the law while obtaining necessary medications.
In Florida, it is now unlawful for a physician to write for more than 3 days of narcotic painkillers (if there are extenuating circumstances, this can be pushed to a week, but the rationale must be documented and approved by at least one other physician, iirc). If your pain hasn't subsided in 3 days, you need to make another appointment -- which means paying another copay, or if uninsured, paying another out-of-pocket office visit -- to get a refill.
If you require pain medication for a chronic condition, you now, by law, have to acquire a separate doctor who specializes in "pain management"; your family doctor is legally not allowed to write for more. Good luck finding an appointment at a reputable pain management clinic within 3 months.
This is not a simple thing, and these medications continue to be prescribed because they help a great deal of people, relatively few of whom descend into addiction (and note that many who do go to the streets are driven there because their docs or pharmacists got spooked by the DEA and cut them off, leaving them in mind-numbing pain, or because they couldn't afford the substantial financial and social costs required to get controlled Rxs renewed and refilled on an ongoing basis).