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@wombatpm The largest meta-study to date found that among long-term opiate pain patients without a prior history of abuse, only 0.19% developed any sort of add

@wombatpm The largest meta-study to date found that among long-term opiate pain patients without a prior history of abuse, only 0.19% developed any sort of addiction or abuse. I do agree with you that many heroin users start with prescription opiates. But the vast majority are not themselves prescribed the drug. Surveys show that they're either getting the drugs from friends or relatives or buying it from the black market. There's no evidence that doctors are "handing out oxycodone like candy", as demonstrated by the vanishingly small addiction rate among actual pain patients. If a kid raids his grandma's medicine cabinet and steals her pain medicine, how is that an indictment of the doctor or pharmaceutical company? [1] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18489635 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18489635 [2] http://sci-hub.tw/https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10550880903182986 http://sci-hub.tw/https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.108...

reallydude 7y ago
As someone who avoids pain medication for medical diagnostic reasons, I have had FAR too many prescriptions for opiates in my 20s and 30s. They were unnecessary 75% of the time that had automatic refills! There was no oversight or followup beyond what you get asked for a medical marijuana prescription (which is a joke). Oh, you have had some pain anywhere for anything? Here's your refill. What did I do with the ones I didn't need, which I was originally sent home with? Sold them or gave them away for recreational use after my recovery was over. Opiates, in general, were poorly managed for decades. Vicodin just happened to be the most popular product and the producer never bothered to be responsible about the use of it's own medicinal product, despite being in the business of medicine. I'm sure J&J aren't special, as a company that would end up being willfully negligent in the face of a successful pain medication empire, but they were.

reallydude 7y ago

As someone who avoids pain medication for medical diagnostic reasons, I have had FAR too many prescriptions for opiates in my 20s and 30s. They were unnecessary 75% of the time that had automatic refills! There was no oversight or followup beyond what you get asked for a medical marijuana prescription (which is a joke). Oh, you have had some pain anywhere for anything? Here's your refill. What did I do with the ones I didn't need, which I was originally sent home with? Sold them or gave them away for recreational use after my recovery was over. Opiates, in general, were poorly managed for decades. Vicodin just happened to be the most popular product and the producer never bothered to be responsible about the use of it's own medicinal product, despite being in the business of medicine. I'm sure J&J aren't special, as a company that would end up being willfully negligent in the face of a successful pain medication empire, but they were.