He hasn't a clue...

It will take them all week to walk back his blue ribbon committee comments.

It's worse because they're preying on the vulnerable and counting on people to trust their physicians, who have sworn to do no harm.

And, too, neither physicians nor opioid manufacturers are usually financially desperate.

This is politically condoned.

... of any kind, the idea that someone was forced into taking an expensive brand-name formulation of a drug marketed for breakthrough for cancer patients offends me greatly.

Both for the millions who suffer from untreated pain, and the people who are being severely overmedicated.

Actual well-thought-out policy made into coherently written laws is not his thing.

However, there are numerous other threads on DU criticizing physician who do not prescribe opioids or who are cutting back as addiction increases. This is not a simple matter of physicians over-prescribing. Patients also "over-demand" these medications. And other patients are under-treated for pain.

Almost every major drug -- opioids, cancer meds, heart, nail fungus, etc. -- is marketed by having physicians talk about their experiences with using them for treatment. Obviously, that can be abused, but it is also the traditional ways of learning about new treatments.

Fortunately, I don't have the kind of pain that requires that -- well, I've had a kidney stone, abscessed tooth, and a few acute sport injuries -- but there are people with chronic pain that makes life extremely difficult.

Physicians who are paid beyond clinical knowledge are subject to extreme fines under Medicare and Medicaid, too. There are also fines and loss of licenses, as well.