5 ms·

Seeing a lot of comments sugesting that strictly controlling the supply side is bad because lots of people legitimately in pain would be suffering. So how do ot

Seeing a lot of comments sugesting that strictly controlling the supply side is bad because lots of people legitimately in pain would be suffering. So how do other countries deal with this? The US consumes something like 80% of the worlds opioid supply

gens 9y ago
In my experience. In Croatia you have to be very much in pain to be prescribed opioids. The strongest pain killer i got is Voltaren, for toothache. A friend got opium, or some derivative of, when he got chopped up because of cancer (same goes for other major surgeries). We have good, state employed, doctors. I have seen some heavier drugs prescribed by shrinks, but i don't know how (physically) addictive they are. If you ask me, the whole USA medical thing is broken by design.
dx034 9y ago
In many European countries (e.g. UK, Germany, France) Opioids are only used in Hospitals, with very few exceptions. Most doctors will prescribe sth like Ibuprofen or Aspirin which is sufficient for most pain. If your pain is so strong that you can't fight it with Ibuprofen it's likely that you're better off in a hospital that treats your condition. The exception are patients at the end of their lives. In this case, opioids can be given to provide a better experience for the patient if treatment is not possible or not desired (by the patient). But most of these patients will be in hospitals as well.
DanBC 9y ago
You prescribe opioids for end of life care. You can prescribe opioids if needed for short term pain - after surgery for example. You refer to a specialist pain management clinic for long term pain. Opioids might be part of that treatment plan. This is what England does: http://www.rcoa.ac.uk/faculty-of-pain-medicine/opioids-aware http://www.rcoa.ac.uk/faculty-of-pain-medicine/opioids-aware

5 ms·

Seeing a lot of comments sugesting that strictly controlling the supply side is bad because lots of people legitimately in pain would be suffering. So how do ot

by gehwartzen 9y ago

gens 9y ago
In my experience. In Croatia you have to be very much in pain to be prescribed opioids. The strongest pain killer i got is Voltaren, for toothache. A friend got opium, or some derivative of, when he got chopped up because of cancer (same goes for other major surgeries). We have good, state employed, doctors. I have seen some heavier drugs prescribed by shrinks, but i don't know how (physically) addictive they are. If you ask me, the whole USA medical thing is broken by design.
dx034 9y ago
In many European countries (e.g. UK, Germany, France) Opioids are only used in Hospitals, with very few exceptions. Most doctors will prescribe sth like Ibuprofen or Aspirin which is sufficient for most pain. If your pain is so strong that you can't fight it with Ibuprofen it's likely that you're better off in a hospital that treats your condition. The exception are patients at the end of their lives. In this case, opioids can be given to provide a better experience for the patient if treatment is not possible or not desired (by the patient). But most of these patients will be in hospitals as well.
DanBC 9y ago
You prescribe opioids for end of life care. You can prescribe opioids if needed for short term pain - after surgery for example. You refer to a specialist pain management clinic for long term pain. Opioids might be part of that treatment plan. This is what England does: http://www.rcoa.ac.uk/faculty-of-pain-medicine/opioids-aware http://www.rcoa.ac.uk/faculty-of-pain-medicine/opioids-aware