It is directly affecting end-of-life treatment. My grandfather is jumping through more and more hoops to fill his prescriptions each month. The insurance compa

It is directly affecting end-of-life treatment. My grandfather is jumping through more and more hoops to fill his prescriptions each month. The insurance company has the gall to tell his doctor they know better, and often want the doctor to justify the prescriptions. My grandfather is on deaths door, he stays alive through sheer will. The doctors gave him 2 years to live...6 years ago. Fair to say that's end-of-life, right? I moved out here to take care of them, so I'm in the thick of this day in, and day out. Insurance companies, Picking up prescriptions in triplicate in writing and hand delivering them, etc. I'm scared to pick up the controlled substances alone because of the way the clerks look at me, so I have to drag one of my poor grandparents to the pharmacy with me, again and again. every month. Why do you think they're looking at me funny? It's narcophobia. They think I'm an addict pulling a fast one. Keep that in mind next time you say it isn't affecting end-of-life care. Someone's grandfather out there was and is affected, directly, by the recent upswing in what can certainly be described as "narcophobia." A doctor shouldn't have to explain himself to a fucking insurance company, ever. If I paid my premium, pay my fucking bill. Keep that corporate nose out of my personal medical affairs and pay the bill like I pay you to do. I'm sorry, but you painted with such a wide brush that I couldn't help but retort. Unless you meant hospice care. In which case you're probably more wrong. These guys are trained sticklers. The second your love one stops breathing, hospice will be there not to comfort you, or have a kind word. They're there to bag up all the painkillers and fill the bag with kitty litter. If that's not narcophobia, I don't know what is. You can't undertreat pain and expect the problem to go away, btw. All that does is encourage blackmarket diversion of legit meds. The harder you make it to get them, the more money they'll be worth, the more risk people will take to steal them wholesale. Expect more delivery truck robberies, more pharmacy hold-ups and break-ins. There will always be abusers, no laws will change or reduce that.