My response to you was in regards to your comment to Grace and it wasn’t about pain pills.
Pharmaceutical reps leave copious samples with doctors. Consumers see the advertising, and ask their doctor if the medication is “right for them”. It’s big business.
I’ve actually found that doctors I go to are reluctant to prescribe things unless they have an idea of what the underlying condition is. The ones I go to will send you to a specialist if they think it isn’t something they can deal with - case in point torn rotator cuff. Went to doc with really sore upper arm. Told me he didn’t know what was causing it and sent me to orthopedic specialist but only recommended nsaids. Orthopod sent me for MRI - torn tendon which required an operation to fix, gave me 24 oxy after operation which really didn’t help much with the pain, but ndaids before and after that. So I can’t say that any of them were really pushing pills.