While i think big pharma is a bunch of whores who prioritize profits, fact is the doctors prescribing this stuff and even more so, the people who take it mindlessly, are equally to blame.
Yet there are times when opiates are medically essential. The issue then becomes when, how, and who will be authorized to prescribe them. I am hard put to imagine the current system as undeserving of criticism or incapable of improvement.
As a recent opioid patient I charge that you are just full of crap.
I have recently become inflicted with intense periodic pain. So far, Medicare has been charged up to about $20k with no real diagnosis.
When the pain strikes, an oxycodone tablet makes it go away
I have experienced all sorts of injury, illness and serious surgery that did not produce such pain. I was prescribed the pills but did not need them. Now is much different.
The episodes occur infrequently and last 8 to 12 hours. The pills do the job
Opioids are absolutely essential for pain management.
The government imposed rules where patients could grade doctors on how well they were treated. In order to not be graded poorly doctors would give pain meds (and antibiotics) too freely. The government is at fault.
Becoming addicted to opiates 40 years ago literally saved my life, we all knew I would become addicted, I had lots of talks with my Doctors, but there was No other options other than a medical coma for 3 months, which was out of the question. but back then Doctors actually cared about thier patients, so they had me go through managed withdrawls in the Hospital under Doctors Care for 1 week before I had my surgery, after my surgery I was clean and Pain Free. But think about this, when the drugs wore off, I had less than 1 hour to get more in my system before I went in to Shock and Hit the Ground, wherever I was at.
What would you do in that situation?
Then there is the GOD of Fentynal:
George Floyd....who swallowed his way to infamy.
Minus one