Good question! This is serious...and deadly!

I think addiction is really misunderstood. A lot of people have the opinion that these addicts do it to themselves, in contrast to the innocent victims of shootings and bombings. The reality is far more complicated than that, though.

In my mind, there are no parallels nor commonalities of any kind between the problems of mortal and criminal consequences of drug use versus the consequences of deaths and injuries of innocent people from guns or explosives. None. People should talk about whatever they want to talk about.

Any of you who've spent any time in urban centers have encountered individuals with obvious mental illness who can get very agitated delivering "speeches" of gibberish and nonsense to the air around them (no one bothers to listen). I've gotten to the point that most of what I hear Trump saying seems to fall into a similar category. His solution for the drug problem is to impose a death sentence on drug dealers. And he had time to congratulate Putin for his win in the democratic election that was held in Russia. And yes, Jimmy Hoffa and the Mafia started the Korean War and murdered JFK.

No, they aren't the same. There is definitely an element of personal choice involved that isn't seen with shootings or bombings. But it's still a big problem, and there's shared blame.

Addiction is tough because there's a stigma to it. We all know the stereotypes of a drug addict, and sometimes it is true. But sometimes it's also the smart, ambitious, straight-A student with a bright future who started taking doctor-prescribed pain pills and spiraled from there.

I think your perspective changes if you are personally affected by the crisis. I knew some young adults who died from opioids, and they are the last people you would ever think were addicts. I think it's impossible to really understand the complexities unless you've faced an addiction yourself.

Shooting and bombing victims have in no way brought that tragedy on themselves.

Addicts have in at least some way. And they love to blame others. "Its not MY fault I'm addicted to pills,it's the doctor who prescribes them." "Its not MY fault I'm 800 pounds,it's the food industry. They totally put stuff in all the garbage I eat that makes me have to eat it."

Also,addiction goes hand in hand with crime. Many addicts victimize others to get funds to feed their addiction. Its not easy to feel sorry for people who do that.

I have a coworker whose wife got addicted to pain pills after whining to a doctor about back pain and refusing surgery or any other alternative. She bankrupted her husband to the point that he had to sell his house and move back in with his parents. They have an 8 year old child. He told he he would pay for rehab,despite filing for divorce. He wanted to help her. Instead of going to rehab,she chose to sell herself on backpage. Choice made.

I save my outrage for the families of the addicts. I agree something needs to be done. But I don't know what. Some people need opiods to have any quality of life. Restricting THEIR access to it because some people want to get high,can't control themselves and turn into addicts is not the way to solve the problem. I have a bottle of narcotic pain pills from my wisdom tooth removal 5 years ago. I took 2. For the pain. Those who take it beyond what they need for their illness or injury (to get high)are responsible for their own actions and the consequences of those actions. They are not true victims, like those who have been killed or injured in shootings and bombings.Why is no one held responsible for their own personal actions anymore????

More than 100 people die every day in the US in car accidents. But, I don't ever hear anyone talking about that. Where's the public outrage?! There are no calls to restrict driving. Why not? Right...we all like driving. It's easy to focus on how cars help us and forget all about the thousands of people, including children, that they kill every year.

How many people die every day related to alcohol consumption? A LOT. I also don't hear anyone talking about that, or about a lot of other things. What about the flu? That kills about 36,000 people every year in the US (more than 100 per day on average). Where's the outrage? Why haven't we declared a war on flu with mandatory flu shots or something? Right...there would be a huge outcry about that, too.

Opioids are an easy target because most people aren't currently taking them and most people really only use them a few times during their lives. It's easy to vilify these drugs, while forgetting about all the pain and suffering they have relieved.

It's like we're in the grip of a nationwide opioid hysteria and it's really going to hurt a lot of people who need these drugs for pain because their doctors are taking away medications that have been helping to relieve their pain and also helping many to be more functional. Yes. It's already hurting people who have been using these drugs appropriately to treat pain. It's also hurting pets. Ask your veterinarian about the severe shortages of opioids that they are currently facing due to severely decreased production, with human hospitals getting first choice. These drugs are in extremely short supply and so many animals who need them for serious pain (e.g. hit by car, surgery, etc.) are not currently able to have these drugs to help relieve that pain. It's a serious problem, manufacturered by our government to fight their war on opioids. This is going to hurt more people than it helps and it's going to do nothing but hurt our pets.

Yes, we do need to help people who are addicted to opioids. But, what we are currently doing isn't helping. We also need to stop confusing people who use these drugs appropriately, to treat chronic or acute pain, with drug addicts. They aren't drug addicts.

Re: car accidents - Things have been done to save lives and to lessen the amount of deaths through the implementation of seat belts, air bags and in our area the graduated driving license has helped lessen accidents for young people. Now, if only people would stop using their cell phones while driving and stop drinking and driving.

Re: guns - There are answers to that problem but most of them will never be implemented. There is too much money involved.

Re: opioids - I wish there was an easy answer to this. I wish I knew why teens raid their parents medicine cabinets for drugs, I wish I knew why people need the highs and the rushes that drugs give them. We have a friend who is a psychiatrist working within a community of our city that has been decimated with drugs and even he doesn't know where to begin. He just tries to save lives from one day to the next as all the first responders do in the same community. Stress is running rampant among these first responders.

I agree that addiction is often misunderstood, but one must possibly explore what I claim is a contributing factor: modern medical practice in league with pharmaceutical companies which offer drugs as a panacea. These drugs often treat symptoms, not root causes.

You can’t stop drug use but you can limit the societal impact via decriminalization. Portugal did this 15 years ago and their rates of opioid and other drug related deaths are down dramatically. Even better addicts are no longer stigmatized and more likely to seek help. Plus there is more money for treatment as enforcement funds were put into services and prevention instead.

You can also reduce shooting deaths if there is a will to do so. Look at how Scotland responded after Dunblane and they haven’t had another school shooting since 1996.

Drug companies don't treat patients, make drugs available to the public, or entice otherwise directionless people to become addicts. You're pointing your fingers in the wrong direction.

Decriminalization is great - provide needles (I honestly do support this, it's important to limit the spread of bad diseases) and fix the problem by letting junkies simply kill themselves by permitting use. Death, after all, is usually the ultimate outcome of heavy drug abuse.

While I am not addicted to anything, including opioids, I can see how one could easily be. I had to take them when I ran into trouble with my back that was excruciating pain. I told myself I could take them for a week, all the while learning PT for my back. It was so nice not to feel ANY pain. People hurt all day, often. To feel no pain was surely something I could get used to. I'm glad I set my goal at one week max.

My apologies in advance for the length of this response...

Rob333, I think that what you wrote kind of exemplifies how we are often confusing people who are appropriately using opioids to relieve pain and increase function with drug addicts.

Drug addicts don't take opioids to relieve pain. They take them to get high. It's not pain relief they are after, but the feelings of euphoria.

Using opioids to relieve pain is the appropriate medical use of these drugs. Physical therapy often fails, surgery is often not appropriate, possible, or curative, etc. So, opioids are often the solution that's left. People who use opioids in these situations are using them appropriately. They are not drug addicts. They aren't looking to get high. They are using them to relieve pain and be more functional. Not wanting to be in pain is not an addiction.

Leaving people in pain (chronic or acute pain) because we confuse people who want pain relief with drug addicts is inhumane. I think it's related somehow to our Puritan origins and the strong threads of Puritanism that are still present in our society. These, I think, paint a picture of suffering as somehow divine and of people who suffer as somehow better /more moral than those who don't want to (or who would choose not to) suffer. I think this makes it easier to vilify drugs that relieve pain as somehow inherently evil and to confuse people who are using opioids appropriately as addicts. Not wanting to be in pain is not an addiction. It's a very appropriate medical goal.

The last time I took opioids was about 10 years ago, following surgery. I was very glad to have them. I did not take all of what I was prescribed. They did allow me to rest easier, to be more functional sooner, etc. The last time my husband took them was after he really put his back out about 7 years ago. They helped him to be able to get out of bed to go to the bathroom, to take a shower, etc. Neither of us are, or were, in any danger of turning into drug addicts.

Nowadays, I've heard they refuse to give opioids to people who have hurt their backs. My friend put hers out a couple of years ago and they told her to take motrin. She couldn't move, couldn't get out of bed to use the toilet, etc. A few days, or a week, of opioids would have really helped her. There's nothing right, or moral, about leaving someone in so much pain that they can't get out of bed to use the toilet. There's no humanity in denying people in situations like that drugs to relieve pain. We should be ashamed, as a society, that we're doing stuff like this to people.

I'm really sorry about the length of this post. I know it's epic. Again, sorry. But I also want to add that, in human medicine, painful things are often already done to people without the benefit of using drugs to relieve that pain. I have experienced this, myself. The pain of what was done (a sort of biopsy) took my breath away. It was extreme. I came close to fainting from pain. They do this to people all the time. I don't understand why we treat people like this, but some of what is done to people, while denying pain medication, is blatantly inhumane. Veterinarians would be called monsters if they did stuff like that to their animal patients without pain relief of some sort, plus the animals wouldn't tolerate it.

It's going to be an even more sad day for us when this war on opioids ends with people in this country being given some motrin and an ice pack following major surgery vs being given an opioid to relieve their pain. They already do that in some countries (read about the state of things so far as medical use of opioids in Mexico, for example). Is this what we want for ourselves, our loved ones, our fellow human beings?

Terminal patients are ALREADY often not currently receiving appropriate pain medication, for a variety of reasons. This is outrageous. Simply outrageous. Will it get even worse than it is now? Probably, thanks to this misguided war on opioids and the associated opioid hysteria.

I too took prescription opiods prior to the harvesting of my stem cells. The medication used to get your body to release stem cells into your blood stream creates excruciating pain in your bones, especially the larger one. Like Rob333, I set a goal. Before I started them, I said I would take them the 5 days I had to inject the drugs and 1 additional day for the harvest, and no more. I counted out the pills that would require and disposed of the remainder immediately. I understand where addiction comes from, as it was wonderful to feel that pain free, but I would bear the pain if I thought it was necessary to prevent becoming addicted.

veggie, be happy with your views but know that I'm probably not alone in thinking you're VERY misinformed. I don't know where to start so I won't bother.

Again, not wanting to be in pain in not an addiction. It's an appropriate medical goal. People who take opioids for pain relief are not addicts, no matter how long they take these drugs. Yes, it feels good to not be in pain, but this does not equal addiction.

Opioid addicts take opioids, in excessive and ever increasing amounts, to get high. It's the high they want..the feelings of euphoria. There's a huge difference. Sadly, as is obvious in this thread, we are very much confusing people who use opioids for pain relief with drug addicts.

I am not very misinformed, elmer. I'm not sure what I said that you have an issue with, but... Addiction, dependence and tolerance are entirely different things, if that's what you are getting at. Maybe you should do some reading about it.

Okay, one item, when you said:

"Nowadays, I've heard they refuse to give opioids to people who have hurt their backs. My friend put hers out a couple of years ago and they told her to take motrin."

This story is second hand to the patient, third hand to the doctor.

What kind of a doctor was seen?

Is your friend overweight?

Where does your friend live?

What triggered the problem?

What tests were given?

What does "putting out a back" mean, exactly?

What diagnosis was made?

Is she sharp enough to follow and understand everything the doctor told her?

What other treatments (PT?) were prescribed?

What's your friend's medical history, age and physical condition?

How long was her mobility severely restricted with the recommended approach?

I'm not a physician but I can imagine a few dozen things or more matters may have been considered. Or maybe the doctor is a hack, or the wrong kind of doctor. Do you have any information on these points, and the training yourself to assess the appropriateness of the doctor's approach, before making your critical and broad generalization?

If opioids are ever to be appropriately prescribed, other NSAIDS are to be tried first. They are not to be used as a first line response to "putting" a back out. Ever.

The reason we've ended up in this mess us because some MD's handed them out like candy.

Here's the sad story of opioids (fentanyl) in my own province. In 2017 there were 1400 overdose deaths of which 81% of those involved fentanyl.. I have never heard of the fentanyl crisis in my own province being linked to sore backs.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/overdose-deaths-bc-2017-1.4511918

She twisted wrong and had excruciating lower back pain. She saw a doctor at the acute care at kaiser later that day. No tests were done, because they didn't want to bother. She was told to take motrin and treated like a drug seeker. She lives alone and I took her to the doctor.

She went back two days later (had to be wheeled in). I took her. Her doctor told her to keep taking motrin and that she wouldn't give her anything else for it. No tests were done. She was basically in bed for multiple days (about 5 days before she could get out of bed) unable to even shift around in bed much. She had to be helped to the toilet, a process that took a long time because she was in such pain every time she tried to move or someone moved her. Her condition slowly improved over several days.

We have a friend who is a doctor at (a different) kaiser and he confirmed, yep, they pretty much refuse to give opioids for acute back pain now and that this was not an isolated incident and that, yes, people who come in with acute back pain are often treated like drug seekers.

She is not overweight (and even if she was, that is no excuse to leave someone in pain like that). They did not offer her physical therapy. She is in her early 40s, a highly educated professional, in good physical condition, and lives near a fairly large city, which is where her doctor was located, in the United States. Yes, I am trained to assess pain, in multiple species. There's also a point where suffering is obvious, and would be to anyone.

I could give more examples. What, exactly are you having an issue with? Many doctors are hacks, by the way. There is no excuse for leaving people in so much pain that they cannot get to the toilet unassisted (and it takes an hour to get them there with assistance).

"If opioids are ever to be appropriately prescribed, other NSAIDS are to be tried first. They are not to be used as a first line response to "putting" a back out. Ever." Opioids are NOT NSAIDs. Also, so it seems that what you're saying is that, no matter how much pain someone is in, you think motrin is perfectly fine. All I can say is that, one day, you will probably find yourself in a situation where you have severe pain that is undertreated. I hope you remember, then, what you've said now.

"The reason we've ended up in this mess us because some MD's handed them out like candy." Really? You blame all the opioid addicts and deaths on some doctors handing them out like candy? Where's your evidence for that? Where's your evidence that leaving people in pain vs treating them appropriately will lead to less opioid addicts or less deaths?

veggie, I hear these additional tidbits and my take away is - this is another too-typical anecdote about indifferent and inadequate Kaiser care. No specialist was involved, no imaging done, no real diagnosis was made.

No diagnosis=no treatment.

Here's my experience - I had an incident at around age 50, twisting wrong while playing a vigorous sport that caused extreme lower back pain. I have a PPO. I saw a back specialist of high reputation the next day. He ordered an immediate MRI, which disclosed a bulging disk, some spinal stenosis, a bone spur on a vertebrae and some likely arthritis. He said the movement while playing shone a light on these problems but these irregularities caused my problem. I was given a prescription for an anti inflammatory and told to immediately start PT and was given a list of directions to give to the PT place. He speculated that the pain would go as the inflammation decreased and that to avoid the problem in the future I would have to strengthen certain muscles and be careful about my movements. He was right, that was my experience. No pain killers were given because the problems were diagnosed and treated as best could be. I've learned what movements to avoid and I've been fine.

Again, have whatever opinion you want, but don't spread misinformation. You were describing a Kaiser experience, not current trends in medicine. Yes, I know that physicians (and even dentists) are under guidance to be prudent about prescribing additive drugs, but your friend's story is something different in my eyes.

Lol, elmer. Most people have kaiser in my state. That's what most people have. So, that's how most people get treated... the way that kaiser does things. I'm not spreading misinformation. I could talk about other incidents, at different hospitals, with different people and different insurance. But, you think you know everything and you also seem to think that all of your experiences are typical and everyone else's experiences are outside of the norm. I can assure you that's not the case. But, I know you won't listen. You never do, from what I've seen on gardenweb.

Yes, they should have done something to try and arrive at a diagnosis in this particular case. But, a definitive diagnosis is not required to start every treatment.

"No diagnosis =no treatment." That's a ridiculous statement. Absolutely ridiculous. You're saying no one should be treated for anything without a definitive diagnosis. So, I'm guessing that status epilepticus shouldn't be treated with valium until we know if it's a brain tumor or idiopathic epilepsy or...? No pain should be treated until we know for sure what's causing it. Great. Let's tell that to people with stuff like gall bladder attacks. Let's tell that to people who need exploratory surgery. Definitely no pain meds for anyone until we know exactly why they're writhing in agony! Plus, let's leave people in agony while we're waiting for the MRI machine to open up, or a surgery suite to become available, or while we're waiting for the ultrasound technician, or... Ridiculous! Absolutely ridiculous.

I wasn't aware Kaiser had more than a 50% market share anywhere, in your saying "most have Kaiser". I'm pretty sure it doesn't but I'm all ears and ready to listen.

Even if so, there are always choices though Kaiser is always a low cost provider. For those who can't afford something more, fine, I understand that But this is a story not unlike anglophiles's recent discussion about housecleaners. you get what you pay for. I don't think it's reasonable to generalize about what the medical profession does or doesn't do if the experiences you're basing that on are with Kaiser. Instead, I would suggest that your friend's experience is an incident of being improperly treated and contrasts significantly with what I believe was my competent treatment.

Like I said, elmer, I have plenty of other stories that I could share, with different doctors, different hospitals, different insurance carriers, etc.

If you think that kaiser is a low cost insurance plan for poor people who can't afford anything better, you are sadly mistaken. It's the most common insurance plan offered by employers around here (and that's probably how I should have phrased it...most commonly held health insurance plan here). The reasons are complicated. But, kaiser will purposefully underbid, by as much as they need to, other insurance companies to get large employers to pick them. Most people can't say no thanks to employer sponsored health insurance and then just go out and buy something different. It doesn't work that way. I'm glad you're happy with your treatment, doctor, etc. I agree that my friend's case was mismanaged. I disagree that is unusual that people are treated like that, though. She should have at least been given a few days worth of pain medication, but she wasn't. Things like that are commonplace now and it's my opinion that it will only get worse with our "war on opioids." That's also what this thread is about..."the war on opioids."

Where is "here"?

No, I didn't say Kaiser is the domain of poor people. Most poor people don't have any coverage at all. I said it's usually the least expensive coverage available and to make it work, they're stingy with care. Your friend's incomplete and incompetent treatment is a good example. Look, this has been the reputation of Kaiser for decades, at least in my "here", which is California. It's nothing new.

Here are market share stats from the H Kaiser Family Foundation. Yes, I know, it's separate from the medical group. Nowhere does Kaiser have a majority as you suggest. It's highest market spot, and only #1, is in Colorado, where its share is about one third.

Market share for private health insurers

It really varies. I get kidney stones and they are excrutiating. I had one in Florida and they didn't have imaging equipment to confirm the stone, and they treated me like a drug addict despite having very obvious other physical symptoms. They wouldn't give me anything.

Then out here in California a year or two ago I had another one, with no pain this time. I went to the ER because I was bleeding, had a CT scan, and I declined the pain medication IV. I told the doctor that I didn't need pain killers and the doctor insisted on sending me home with 3 different pain medications, including opioids, just in case. I filled them and never used any. So they are definitely still available with a proper diagnosis, though I think she was too liberal in dispensing.

I definitely can't make any comment on Kaiser, no experience with them. However, have had bulging discs for years. Have had physical therapy, injections and medication. Lucky for me Opiods make mr physically ill. My pain management doctor prescribed muscle relaxers, they definitely worked. Sadly can't get those anymore because of the restrictions. When the back acts up, its heat, ice and Bayer Back and Body. Bed until it resolves.

I was addressing the crisis in our country where successful people have lost everything, parents have overdosed in their car with their children, precious lives lost every day. Most of these people didn't start to get high.

"Here" is a highly populated state in the United States. Exactly where is my business, as I typically closely guard my privacy online. I'm not sure why you are so fixated on kaiser. I agree that they stink and that my friend's case was mismanaged and that this is typical for kaiser. We had it for a few years and it was terrible, imo. You probably wouldn't believe what we did to get out of it. Kaiser is a highly popular health plan, though, so their policies are never going to only affect only a small number of people and be some outlying abnormal experience.

Terilyn - "Most of these people didn't start to get high." Do you have any evidence for that? What are the actual statistics for why people actually become addicted (not tolerant to or physically dependent upon) to opioids?

I read somewhere that they are developing a little chip that can go in pills that will report on when the pill was taken. If this is the case, it would maybe be a good idea to embed them in opioid pills, then require all pills not taken be returned to the doctor or hospital for destruction. I think that a lot of people will take extra pills that were prescribed to family or friends, or buy these extras on the streets. It would be good to eliminate the extras, imo. This would allow us to treat people appropriately for pain, while maintaining more control on leftovers.

I am definitely for reducing addiction, and helping addicted people come off of these drugs safely. I'm not for denying people in pain appropriate pain control. The methods we're using now are leaving people (and pets, because veterinarians are having serous trouble getting these drugs) in pain. Our current methods are misguided, imo.

I had a similar experience just six weeks ago to the one your friend had, veggiegardner, so I get it. To allow a person to suffer needlessly because others have abused the system is unacceptable.

" I agree that they stink and that my friend's case was mismanaged and that this is typical for kaiser. "

Then we've ended the conversation in agreement, though that wasn't an essential outcome (to me).

I'm not fixated on Kaiser in any way, I was trying to understand the basis of your broader opinion about current medical practices and knowing now that it was based on a friend's Kaiser encounter, I'd say her experience doesn't really represent "medical trends" at all.

Have a nice evening.

Elmer, my opinion of our current war on opioids, and the methods we're currently using to fight this war, have basically very little to nothing to do with my friend's kaiser experience. That was just an example of something that happened.

I know 5 people who have died from narcotics. I currently know of another 5-10 who are likely addicted and should be working to get off of them, but can't/won't. A few of them are likely to die too.

The problem is that the people who are addicted never believe you that they are at risk of death. They all tell me the some of the exact same things I've read upthread here - that they aren't addicted, they only take them for pain, no one understands how much they hurt, etc....

Every single one of these people started out taking these drugs for pain (mostly "non-specific" low back pain). None of the people I'm talking about were "drug addicts" before they started taking narcotics. All of them were working in full time jobs at the time they started taking the drugs.

Conventional medical wisdom, and mostly the drug companies, screwed these people over. Based on what we know now, none of those folks should have ever been rx'ed opiods. Who doesn't remember the hype when Oxy first came out? The drug company marketed it on TV and basically told all of America, "you can't get addicted if you're taking it for pain." And that my friends is a flat-out lie, told by a company to maximize their profits. And doctors also apparently believed it, and started handing out narcotics like candy.

Different people become addicted at different levels and at different rates. Some people start becoming addicted after just one pill.

If you are awake and reading this message (ha ha) - and you are taking opiods - you probably think I'm just so full of crap you can't believe it. You are 100% certain you aren't in danger of dying. You are taking these drugs because a doctor prescribed them for you, and I can't possibly understand how much you hurt.

I'm going to say it again - I know 5 people, just like you - who were prescribed these for pain, and pretty much held it together and lead relatively functional lives. And every single one of them fell asleep one night and just never woke up. Opiods are respiratory depressants, and once you fall asleep....sometimes while on narcotics, you just forget to breath. It's literally just that simple.

So while you are awake and screaming at me what a moron I am, sure - you're doing fine and you figure there's no way you can die from these. But at some point......you're going to fall asleep, and then all bets are off. Add in muscle relaxers (or alcohol!) too and you better make sure your life insurance is paid up and your family can survive without you.

I live in an area with an opiod epidemic. People are being brought back with a shot from the cops or EMT's MUTLTIPLE times daily! Most are young people who turned to heroin when other pills became too expensive. Nearly none were prescribed them for pain by a doctor. And they are looking for obliviousness to some mental pain they feel unable to cope with or withstand.

I have had multiple discs in my back crumble over the years. It IS painful, but after a day or so of bedrest and an NSAID, moving is usually the best option. Only once was it deemed necessary to prescribe PT for me and I did do it. Mine is somewhat self-limiting as I also have a lot of arthritis in my back - it kind of does what the old surgery (not discounted) of injecting cement into a crumbling disc did! As much as it hurt, I would not have chosen to take pain meds. I did this for a few years - my doctor prescribed Tramadol as at first, it was considered to have a VERY low risk of addiction and was not even a Scheduled drug. I took one 50mg tablet three times weekly before going to pulmonary rehab. It allowed me to exercise far more vigorously and I lost 70 pounds. Then I started noticing symptoms - I "crashed" on the afternoon after I had taken that one pill. I did more research and realized my body HAD become addicted to this drug. I stopped it cold turkey (probably should not have, but I wanted nothing more to do with this drug). I will never again take it and it is now recognized as being highly addictive to some people and is a Scheduled drug.

My DD had the flu a couple of years ago, even though she had her vaccination. I was appalled that her HIGHLY respected primary care physical prescribed an antibiotic (she did NOT have a secondary infection), prednisone for the inflammation, and oxycodone for the pain of flu. Yikes! She should not have prescribed ANY of these meds! She gave her patients what they wanted so they could quickly get back to work - her affluent patients in high performing jobs. Well, she sure lost my respect! I wonder how many of her patients have become addicted to oxycodone.

When my husband was dying of prostate cancer, he could have all the pain meds he wanted - he had a pump and it was his choice how to use it (with physician set limits). He knew what more meant in terms of his wakefulness and clear headedness. He did not suffer.

But I regularly see middle-aged and older women at the Ft Knox pharmacy arguing with the pharmacist to refill an expired prescription that their doctor will not authorize a refill for. I think they may have been given them originally by a doctor for a valid condition, but did become addictive to them.

Drug addiction and alcohol addiction share some similarities. Some people have a highly addictive personality; some have what is probably a biological predisposition to becoming addicted to any substance. People don't start having a drink in a restaurant in hopes of becoming an alcoholic, but many do eventually do just that.

These pain meds were far too frequently passed out "like candy" by some doctors, and many patients did not use them appropriately and also follow up with other treatments etc. It's a very bad situation. And yes, when one is in an ER asking for ANY form of pain relieve, one will be treated like an addict needing a quick fix. It's sad - unfortunate - but that is what staff in ER's see over and over, every single day. We have 3 large downtown hospitals - the addicts go to each. Hospitals caught on and now notify the other hospitals that this person will soon be at their ER.

Until the opiod epidemic is under control, ER's will continue to operate that way, be they Kaiser or any other "brand".