Big change to make it harder for patients to get pain killers like Vicodin

[Prophet 451]

179. I find this questionable at best

I'm an addict. I take large quantities of dihydrocodeine to cope with chronic arthritic pain. I should be on much stronger painkillers according to my doctor but most of them have really nasty interactions with the four psychotropics meds I take daily. I was also a semi-pro wrestler and wrestling is a business that's awash with prescription painkillers (the abuse of which is, in my experience, even more of a problem than the steroids people associate with wrestling). At least these days, my addiction is monitored and controlled and I'm on a dozen pills a day, not 30 or so from a guy in the locker room and washed down with whiskey. I've known painkiller addicts. Addiction is a problem with the opoids and one that's often overlooked.

That said, I live in a country where my doctor visits and my drugs are paid for by the NHS and I already see my doctor every couple of weeks (because my file has "SUICIDE RISK" in big red letters at the top). In a country where you still have to pay for doctor visits, all this is likely to do is force chronic pain sufferers to endure their pain longer or get their pills from some shady online pharmacy. It's going to require extra doctor visits. For me, in a country with decent and cheap public transport, that's not a problem. But in a country where your doctor might be thirty or forty miles away and with (forgive me) shitty public transport, that visit might be either impossible to make or more than you can afford. A lot of people in poverty or old people don't drive and they can't afford a taxi.