Are strong painkillers overprescribed?!
Question: Are strong painkillers overprescribed.?
My neighbor has been taking morphine pills for years (for back pain) and she is obviously addicted. I tried to talk to her about it but she got furious. She sometimes sends me on errands and when I go to her apartment, she can barely stand up or speak. She is not family, so I'm limited as to what I can do. Why do doctors prescribe so easily.?Health Question & Answer
Answers:
You'll probably find that they don't do much for her pain anymore either as she's been taking them so long. Her Dr should see if he can drop her down to a lower strength painkiller and one that's not so addictive. He's not doing her any favours by keeping her on a strong drug long term if she's addicted to it. Someone should try giving her a placebo and see if she gets the same results from that.?. Health Question & Answer
As a chronic pain suffer myself I know how difficult it can be living with pain for years. If a person is in pain and that pain is managed well with a medicine then it is warrented to continue to be taking it under the supervision of a doctor. Your neighbor has probably developed some level of tolerence to the morphine (as most people do with pain killers), so she may need more of it to relieve the same amount of pain as before. also, as long as she is being supervised by a doctor, her taking the medicine is alright. I have chronic shoulder and neck pain and have been using the Fentanyl Patch for 2 and a half years. My doctor and I have tried other things, but nothing has been as effective. So, it is not neccessarily your place to judge whether your neighbor should or should not be on the medicine. Her doctor prescribed that medicine to her for a reason, and they determined that the benefits of it outweigh the risks. Pain medicine, such as morphine, are prescribed for a justified reason and are not usually given out easily.Health Question & Answer
I am not exactly sure who told you it is easy to get pain medications, but it's not! I am in pain management after a very bad car accident this year where I injured my neck and shoulder. The shoulder has been fixed via surgery and does not give me too many problems any more. The neck is another story. I went months being in excruciating pain before I found a doctor that was willing to help me. Most doctors are afraid to even prescribe Percocet these days because of the DEA cracking down on drug seekers and prescription fraud. For the people who need these medications, it can take months, sometimes years, to find someone who is willing to help. Being in pain 24 hours a day is obviously not something you have experienced, and I honestly hope that you never do, but it is not your place to judge whether or not someone's use of pain killers is justified. You do not know her pain. As the other poster said, she very well may have developed a tolerance to the medication from the years of use, but physical dependence and addiction are two different things. If the doctor is monitoring her intake, which I am sure he is, then there is nothing to worry about and no reason for you to stick your nose into her health concerns if you are not invited. Her reaction alone tells you that she is not willing to to discuss this with you and the matter should be dropped, permanently. But trust me, doctors do not "prescribe so easily," as you would like to think.Health Question & Answer
morphine is a under DDA(Dangerous Drugs Act) and it shouldn't prescribed easily as other painkiller because as public knew it's one of the drugs that can makes you addicted.Seems like someone has prescribed it against the law of DDA.Health Question & Answer