Clearly that’s not true based on the evidence. Acetaminophen and ibuprofen work really well for certain pain (dental) and pain related to inflammation. But if

Clearly that’s not true based on the evidence. Acetaminophen and ibuprofen work really well for certain pain (dental) and pain related to inflammation. But if you have bone cancer, they aren’t going to do much even if the pain isn’t “the most severe”. Pain can actually have many modalities. Things like gabapebtin, antidepressants, antiepileptics, can be helpful for certain pain like neuralgia. But opioids are a class of their own for certain types of pain. We continue to use them because there are no other options.