"I'm only going to prescribe one Norco per day," says the GP. "Because it's just a slippery slope...but after you see Pain Managment, it's a different scenario."
Interestingly, we discussed the "opioid epidemic" in POLS class where I was shouted down by my own peers, and the professor (who after he made his argument, told me to speak, and I refused, feeling like it was a lost cause--who am I to educate people who have already made up their minds? And for that matter, am I not just the slightest biased on the whole topic? Luckily, I'm not alone. I know of patient rights groups, chronic pain lobbying groups, who have the same thoughts I do, and are actively trying to save one's ability to find and secure pain relief. Granted, if one of those pharma companies finds some drug that silences pain better than an opioid, they'll be sure to put it on the market with a decent generic a year or more away from coming onto market).
I mean, isn't "slippery slope" just a logic fallacy? Why treat all patients like potential drug addicts? The addiction rate for heroin is at most 18%, still a minority, but a high enough percentage to give anyone pause. I've read from research articles, especially in the early 2000's, that the addiction rate for prescription opioids is as low as 2-3%. I don't believe those numbers, it has to be greater than that, but, well, they are researchers after all. You would like to hope they are not falsifying their data because they are in the back pocket of some drug company.
And who here would say, while screaming in pain at an ER, "Please, don't give me morphine. It's addictive. Give me, hmmm...how about a placebo? Even better, do you have some pot lying around?"
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