Because of this, the new laws governing the use of things like Vicodin mean I can no longer get my prescription from my Rheumatologist. I have to go to a pain doctor who will then decide what I need. Last time it was a round of painful injections which lasted all of three days and cost several hundred dollars after my insurance company got done paying. For less than 50 cents, I could have taken 6 Vicodin over the three days, felt better and slept better.
So once again, the government punishes those with true needs while they give precedence to addicts.
We have a system where chronic pain management is broken. If you suffer from chronic pain you get oxycontin for a while until you can’t because a government bureaucrat determines you may become addicted. Then you have a choice, take a less effective drug, or go the illegal route. If you go illegal, the problem is that you can’t control the dosage or purity, because, well because it’s illegal.
Just because one is using prescription opioids with a doctor’s supervision to control pain, even if addicted, does not mean that one cannot be a functioning, productive member of society. However, if one turns to street drugs for relief and becomes addicted with the attendant consequences (including prison, razor thin differences between too little and too much, inconsistent dosing and possibly death) then one is unlikely to become a productive member of society again.
I am in the same boat but I flat out cannot afford to go to Pain Management. Now I am supposed to just hurt all the time. I utterly despise a government that sticks its nose into every aspect of my life.