“Opioid pain killer addiction?”
If he did have an opioid addiction, it is likely from illicit drugs, not prescription opioids. Prescription drugs are not responsible for the opioid OD rates. Addiction is very low with prescription opioids
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/add.15487
“Among youth filling an initial opioid prescription, median age was 18 years (IQR, 16‐21) and 56.1% were female. During the subsequent 12 months, 10,405 (0.3%) youth experienced an opioid‐related complication.”
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33814132/
“In every state examined, there was no consistent relationship between the amount of prescription opioids delivered and total injury-related mortality or any subgroups, suggesting that there is not a direct association between prescription opioids and injury-related mortality.”
Respectfully,
I know quite a few people who started with prescription pain killer (opioids) and got addicted.
A few who ended up killing themselves by going into the “coffin corner”.
Where I used to work, it was so common we had the opioid antidote in our first aid kits. Of the three that I witnessed being used, two started with prescriptions and ended up addicted. One was a newer hire.