Little Mini-rant on prescription painkillers...

[Seeking Serenity]

60. I hate it that you a) can't get good RX pain meds, and

b) that you're having to do ESIs. I've got spinal stenosis with arthritis too, and I refuse to do ESIs. And any MD that recommends biannual ESIs long term is committing malpractice, IMO (full disclosure -- I'm not an MD, nor do I play one on TV, nor did I stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night). With every stick comes new scar tissue. And having a whole bunch of scar tissue can make any later surgery (I pray we'll never need it) that much more difficult.

MDs authorize ESIs 1) to get out of having to prescribe, and 2) because they can charge insurance a hell of a lot more for a procedure (ESIs are considered procedures) than for writing a script.

And in response to all of the commented bemoaning the War on Drugs, I'm right with you. And I'll sadly note that it was the FDA under THIS administration that rescheduled hydrocodone as Schedule II from Schedule III, just making it that much harder for people who really need it to get it.