[corporateslave5]

The ones truly at fault are the doctors. They follow “procedure”, which says that a patient under pain is treated with opiates. And so, to avoid any mal practice, they prescribe. And the patient has been told that doctors are the smartest, most prestigious individuals in our society. What’s not to trust? What do we do when societal structures built upon reputation and legitimacy fall victim to profit taking and legal threats? There’s no failure mechanism when a reputed institution fails from the inside.

[dependenttypes]

> which says that a patient under pain is treated with opiates

Do you have a better solution? For some people the pain can be unbearable.

[gherkinnn]

For some opiates are might very well be the right tool. Just as you said.

There are some questions to which I’m in no position to give an answer:

- is a little temporary pain really problem?

- are there less invasive measures?

- what preventative measures do we have?

- are opiates just an easy way to cover up symptoms that could/should be treated properly?

[dependenttypes]

A "little" temporary pain is not a problem. A lot of temporary pain is a problem though, and it is even worse when doctors do not believe the patient and think that the patient is just looking for drugs, or when the doctors do not understand how big the pain is (after all, only the person who suffers can judge it).

This is why I believe it should be up to the patient to select whether to take opiates.

[ssivark]

> Do you have a better solution? For some people the pain can be unbearable.

Fair point, but the same (edit: “unbearable” cost) applies to wasted lives.

I don’t claim to have a general answer, but it’s important to keep the pros and cons in context.

Unfortunately one half of the balance sheet is an externality, and our incentive system is set to exploit those ruthlessly.

[dependenttypes]

What applies to wasted lives?