Opiod abuse = 20% of the decline in labor force participation

[CosmicCowboy]

They made it harder, not impossible, for people who actually need the meds to get them. PCPs, surgeons, and the like can't just fill endless narcotic scrips. You have to be treated by a pain specialist if you need long term narcs. You still got the ers who ER hop though. All one has to do is cry "chest pain" to get a couple shots of morphine.

Yeah, my orthopod referred me to a pain specialist. CVS pharmacy just got on the anti-opiod bandwagon today. They will only fill pain meds for 7 days now. Thats just stupid.

[CosmicCowboy]

... when they are used.

They are used. You cant fill scrips from different doctors in texas anymore. They all go through a state clearinghouse.

[TeyshaBlue]

My mother in law has been on a pain contract for the last 10 years and it was never so hard as it is now to get her refills. She has to go in EVERY month and has the most severe rhumetoid arthritis imaginable and gets $3.5k disability per because of it, which is very, very high for disability payouts (because she was a $115k per year head ER nurse for 20 years) because she can only stand for 1/2 the month. Poor lady has been on Norcs for about 15 years and now they cut back her supply and upped her morphine! Go figure.

Did she ever try biologicals like Remicade or Humira?