(06-25-2018 04:13 PM)billstudabaker Wrote:  

(06-21-2018 03:51 PM)OptimisticOwl Wrote:  I don't have much respect for the pill mill pain management doctors in this business.

I understand where you're coming from, but I was at a local biotech event a few months back and met a youngish MD who had left his practice and returned to business school because of his disgust at insurance companies who consistently denied coverage for safer (and more expensive) pain management medications, which affected a significant portion of his patients, in favor of the dirt cheap opioids. It's just one data point, but I suspect there are a lot of his peers who feel stuck between a rock and a hard place.

This statement by your youngish acquaintance tells me that he never actually came around to a true understanding of pain and opioid addiction at all. (and this unfortunately is the rule, rather than the exception)

I'm a doctor with thousands of patients, and I have less than a handful on chronic opioids for non-cancer pain....and these few are on an extremely short leash. I am ashamed to say that this crisis falls squarely on doctors' shoulders to a substantial degree.
And yes, as OO said, there are alot of "pill-mill" quacks out there who are making tons of money off addiction. And I have zero respect for them too.

If you think that graphic above is shocking, try this one: Americans consume 99% of the world's supply of hydrocodone.
And, 25 to 40% of opioids prescribed for "chronic pain" (in reality, simply opioid-dependence) have been shown to be diverted directly for sale on the street.