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You make it sound like there's a problem with the people getting addicted, not the systemic overprescription of addictive drugs to unwitting patients who follow

You make it sound like there's a problem with the people getting addicted, not the systemic overprescription of addictive drugs to unwitting patients who followed the authority of naive, at best, or even malicious medical professionals.

DuskStar 6y ago
I think he's saying that the drug war is the problem, not the addiction. That the steps that we're taking to fight addiction are worse than the addiction itself.
- to11mtm 6y ago
  I would still argue the bigger problem is the way pharmaceutical companies push products on Doctors. Ever been to a doctor's office, get prescribed a certain medicine, and then look around the office and see 5 different knick-knacks from the Pharmaco (i.e. Calendars, Notepads, general adverts) in the room as they're writing the script? The issue is far far larger than Opioids. I think a bigger message should be sent on this issue. We are one of the only first world countries that even allows advertisement of Medications, and have repeatedly seen the impacts of these companies' marketing tactics.
radley 6y ago
I think they're pointing out that we may be overdoing it as a result of trying to resolve over-prescription.
donatj 6y ago
The doctors and drug companies make easy scapegoats, but if a person came to you in genuine pain, living an absolutely miserable life, and you knew without a doubt you could stop it, could you in good moral standing with yourself choose to keep this human being in pain? I certainly could not, I am not so heartless, and I certainly hope the same of my own doctors. I think we forgot that by and large near all these people were in genuine pain. It’s easy to disparage them from the sidelines, but walk a mile in their shoes.
- rbranson 6y ago
  The whole point of having the prescription drug system is so that patients can be provided with safe, monitored access to potentially dangerous drugs. The entire purpose of a doctor being involved in the system is to prevent the outcome we are experiencing, otherwise they'd just sell these things over the counter.
- res0nat0r 6y ago
  Pillmill docs and counties in the rust belt being prescribed so many pills that if split evenly would give each person in the county 10k pills a month is the issue. No one is denying that sensible opioid prescriptions are a good thing. The issue is Purdue Pharma lied about how addictive their pills were and encouraged over-prescription in pursuit of their #1 goal, not easing pain, but profits. https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/film/opioids-inc/ https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/film/opioids-inc/
- nitrogen 6y ago
  The high school football players hooked on vicodin are definitely "in pain". Get your wisdom teeth out? Free opiates for you. Got injured during a game? Here you go, just one won't hurt.
- obmelvin 6y ago
  I didn't call for banning anything. I said the issue is with overprescription and negligent doctors. You are describing a desire for proper healthcare - that is also something I am interested in. What I am not interested in is my friend getting 100 Vicodin for a bit of pain after some dental visit (maybe wisdom teeth removed? can't remember), that he later realized was way more than he needed and had him temporarily addicted.
dodobirdlord 6y ago
An addiction is only a problem if you stop having access to the drug. It used to be the case (I don't know about now amid the anti-opioid mania) that doctors didn't bother trying to avoid opiate addiction in patients who were in their last few months of years of life. The supply is assured, the benefits are obvious, the drugs are cheap (though some opiates are expensive because of massive research spending on making them less addictive!), and the patient is never going to experience withdrawal in the context of hospice care. Alcohol withdrawal is just as unpleasant and more likely to kill you than opiate withdrawal, but for no particularly good reason you can't buy oxycodone at the corner store. The failure is on all of us for creating a society in which being addicted to opiates will ruin your life. There's no reason this has to be the case.

DuskStar 6y ago

I think he's saying that the drug war is the problem, not the addiction. That the steps that we're taking to fight addiction are worse than the addiction itself.

to11mtm 6y ago
I would still argue the bigger problem is the way pharmaceutical companies push products on Doctors. Ever been to a doctor's office, get prescribed a certain medicine, and then look around the office and see 5 different knick-knacks from the Pharmaco (i.e. Calendars, Notepads, general adverts) in the room as they're writing the script? The issue is far far larger than Opioids. I think a bigger message should be sent on this issue. We are one of the only first world countries that even allows advertisement of Medications, and have repeatedly seen the impacts of these companies' marketing tactics.

radley 6y ago

I think they're pointing out that we may be overdoing it as a result of trying to resolve over-prescription.

donatj 6y ago

The doctors and drug companies make easy scapegoats, but if a person came to you in genuine pain, living an absolutely miserable life, and you knew without a doubt you could stop it, could you in good moral standing with yourself choose to keep this human being in pain? I certainly could not, I am not so heartless, and I certainly hope the same of my own doctors. I think we forgot that by and large near all these people were in genuine pain. It’s easy to disparage them from the sidelines, but walk a mile in their shoes.

rbranson 6y ago
The whole point of having the prescription drug system is so that patients can be provided with safe, monitored access to potentially dangerous drugs. The entire purpose of a doctor being involved in the system is to prevent the outcome we are experiencing, otherwise they'd just sell these things over the counter.
res0nat0r 6y ago
Pillmill docs and counties in the rust belt being prescribed so many pills that if split evenly would give each person in the county 10k pills a month is the issue. No one is denying that sensible opioid prescriptions are a good thing. The issue is Purdue Pharma lied about how addictive their pills were and encouraged over-prescription in pursuit of their #1 goal, not easing pain, but profits. https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/film/opioids-inc/ https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/film/opioids-inc/
nitrogen 6y ago
The high school football players hooked on vicodin are definitely "in pain". Get your wisdom teeth out? Free opiates for you. Got injured during a game? Here you go, just one won't hurt.
obmelvin 6y ago
I didn't call for banning anything. I said the issue is with overprescription and negligent doctors. You are describing a desire for proper healthcare - that is also something I am interested in. What I am not interested in is my friend getting 100 Vicodin for a bit of pain after some dental visit (maybe wisdom teeth removed? can't remember), that he later realized was way more than he needed and had him temporarily addicted.

dodobirdlord 6y ago

An addiction is only a problem if you stop having access to the drug. It used to be the case (I don't know about now amid the anti-opioid mania) that doctors didn't bother trying to avoid opiate addiction in patients who were in their last few months of years of life. The supply is assured, the benefits are obvious, the drugs are cheap (though some opiates are expensive because of massive research spending on making them less addictive!), and the patient is never going to experience withdrawal in the context of hospice care. Alcohol withdrawal is just as unpleasant and more likely to kill you than opiate withdrawal, but for no particularly good reason you can't buy oxycodone at the corner store. The failure is on all of us for creating a society in which being addicted to opiates will ruin your life. There's no reason this has to be the case.