[originalbuckeye]

I am wondering if the opioid 'crisis' can be traced back to doctors being ordered to just give pain pills, instead of actually treating patients with surgery or whatever else they really need. And of course, the drug companies would be totally onboard with the pill pushing. (PS-sorry for the vanity)

[napscoordinator]

Doctors were given out OxyContin like it was candy.

[mewzilla]

Has Medicaid Made the Opioid Epidemic Worse?

How Obamacare Is Fueling America's Opioid Epidemic

[mrsmith]

Single-payer Medicaid/Medicare pay structure highly encouraged giving pills instead of treating the problem.
Increased illegal supply occurred too (Mexico, Afghanistan).
Opioids are much more dangerous than other drugs.
Crazy dangerous.

I don’t see a direct connection between their higher use in a single-payer health plan and the current push for one. Might be there though.

Anyway the media always wants a new headline and politicians always want to spend money.

[JohnBovenmyer]

I saw an article a couple months back that showed this isn’t everywhere in the US. It is mostly limited to states that chose Obamacare’s Medicaid expansion. Which pays for cheap pain pills, but doesn’t pay enough to attract doctors good enough to cure the pain. Without middle class Medicaid the middle class isn’t getting hooked on opioids or government. Liberalism kills

[hinckley buzzard]

Opioids were around in medicine for decades before the current epidemic broke out. It ain't the docs and it ain't pharma. It's a generation of losers addicted to immediate gratification at all costs, including flirting with death.

Yes it's that simple. This is a generational problem.

[JimRed]

Opioid abuse is a BEHAVIOR. Addicts fake pain to get the scrip. People in real pain are given pills instead of treatment for the cause.