My brother developed an opioid addiction about five years ago, though I’m happy to report he’s coming up on one year of sobriety. The specific story of my family aside, I’ve spent a lot of time trying to understand the opioid epidemic, the medical system, and any oft prescribed drugs with addictive potential. Opioids are by no means the only substance medically prescribed that can cause addiction issues. At the risk of sounding like a conspiracy theorist, I would argue that certain entities are very happy to profit from addicts who require more intensive and costly medical care over the course of their lifetimes. Consider all the money to be made from in-patient visits, out patient programs, and medications and drug treatments for substance use disorders. After my family’s experiences and researching many drugs out there (Oxy, Xanax, Adderall, etc.), I would not trust any medical prescriptions without doing my homework first and really carefully weighing the risk of addiction. A drug like Suzetrigine should be an obvious public health win, but some may not view a potentially large disruption to the pharmaceuticals market as a good thing. Intertia and incentives keep companies and hospitals from adopting new drugs and making big changes. There are several really good Netflix and other documentaries and series about pharmaceuticals in the United States that might elucidate some of the more nuanced aspects of problems with prescription drugs
My brother developed an opioid addiction about five years ago, though I’m happy to report he’s coming up on one year of sobriety. The specific story of my family aside, I’ve spent a lot of time trying to understand the opioid epidemic, the medical system, and any oft prescribed drugs with addictive potential. Opioids are by no means the only substance medically prescribed that can cause addiction issues. At the risk of sounding like a conspiracy theorist, I would argue that certain entities are very happy to profit from addicts who require more intensive and costly medical care over the course of their lifetimes. Consider all the money to be made from in-patient visits, out patient programs, and medications and drug treatments for substance use disorders. After my family’s experiences and researching many drugs out there (Oxy, Xanax, Adderall, etc.), I would not trust any medical prescriptions without doing my homework first and really carefully weighing the risk of addiction. A drug like Suzetrigine should be an obvious public health win, but some may not view a potentially large disruption to the pharmaceuticals market as a good thing. Intertia and incentives keep companies and hospitals from adopting new drugs and making big changes. There are several really good Netflix and other documentaries and series about pharmaceuticals in the United States that might elucidate some of the more nuanced aspects of problems with prescription drugs