2022NYC posted:The harsh fact is physicians are part of the problem. The largest physician professional organization created an opiod task force about 5 years ago to address the crisis by advocating for major changes both institutionally and practices.
"In the late 1990s, pharmaceutical companies reassured the medical community that patients would not become addicted to prescription opioid pain relievers, and healthcare providers began to prescribe them at greater rates. This subsequently led to widespread diversion and misuse of these medications before it became clear that these medications could indeed be highly addictive"
This is an exerpt from the National Institutes of Health, one of our nation's most prestigious research agency.
The full text is here:
Pill mills exist, over prescriber's - they do exist. I would certainly not contest that "bad apple" physicians are participants in this epidemic. But lets be clear, this citation IS NOT a scientific paper, nor are any of it's references. Most are opinion that appear in less reputable journals that are the "pay for publication" type.
Additionally, the premise that physicians were unaware of the potential for addiction and misuse of opioid prescriptions in the 90's and relied on pharmaceutical company propaganda to determine their method of practice is preposterous. I can tell you as a physician, you're right if you think - big egos. Egos big enough not to be told how to prescribe by the pharmaceutical companies or their reps. This would be like the HC letting the student trainer tell him how to manage his line-up. Doesn't happen that way, period. Like I said preposterous.
Ultimately, Skaggs ingested oxycodone and had fentanyl on board. I doubt those things were prescribed to him. I am certain he wasn't instructed to take the with alcohol by any physician.
I think Tommy Lasorda said it best when he was with the Dodgers. He was talking about Darryl Strawberry and his substance abuse suspension when he said(paraphrasing), " We have done Darryl a dis-service by defining his addiction as a disease because it makes him feel as though he has no control over his problem. What he has is a weakness. He needs to recognize that is a weakness, so he understands it is something he can overcome."