I get that, but that doesn’t explain why they’re always so overeager to prescribe hardcore drugs or over-operate routine problems. The role of doctors in the entire opiates crisis is pretty damning.
I’ve had a couple of surgeries and the eagerness of doctors to give me opiates for pain relief was baffling, even when I clearly told them that I can tolerate the pain and don’t need anything stronger than ibuprofen.
It's a lot harder to overprescribe addictive drugs now. Much much harder. But your point remains. The problem wasn't so much painkillers after a major back surgery - it was prescribing to treat chronic pain - which, in hindsight, is an obvious way to get people addicted. What isn't told is how insurance would only cover pills, not more expensive therapies (to deal with the underlying issues.) Now you have a patient who's in some pretty serious pain and you have an FDA approved pill to treat it. In a country that still has TV ads for medicine, the outcome isn't that surprising. It's also why opioid addiction is a strictly american phenomenon.
Working as a surgery resident and now in IR, I can tell you it’s much better to be a little overprescritvie in addressing post-op pain than to get behind and underdose.
Also opiates in a short term setting are good meds. Pain control is good and people are able to get moving faster.
I’ve had a couple of surgeries and the eagerness of doctors to give me opiates for pain relief was baffling, even when I clearly told them that I can tolerate the pain and don’t need anything stronger than ibuprofen.