Thanks for sharing your perspective, and personal stories. I’m sorry that your mom had to go through that awful experience — especially when it could have been avoided with a responsible doctor.

I actually see your point — there was definitely a time when doctors were a lot more lenient with prescribing opioids (even when they didn’t need to), and that has impacted the crisis we’re in now. This includes the pharma company that pushed doctors to hand out a lot of oxycontin prescriptions. I don’t think that’s the total cause of the crisis (as I specified in my article), but it definitely did contribute to it.

I’d also like to clarify that I’m not necessarily a big fan of opioids. They have their problems, and they are addictive. When placed into the hands of an irresponsible doctor, they become dangerous. Opioids aren’t the solution for every chronic pain patient — in fact, probably not even for most of us. What we need is a way to prescribe opioids responsibly — not necessarily a cut-back — but a way to make sure that patients who need them can have them while also not handing them out like free candy.

This is a messy situation, and frankly, there isn’t an easy answer. However, I do appreciate your thoughtful response.