As the prescription drug addiction epidemic has continued to spiral out of control, much of the blame is directed towards doctors. Diving into the roots of the problem, however, prove that doctors are only a part of the problem, and are even caught in a dilemma when it comes to curbing addiction and managing their patients’ pain. There are various justifications that prove the innocence of doctors towards prescription drug addiction . For instance, the National Survey on Drug Use and Health (2009) found that 70% of people who abuse prescription drugs acquire the medications from friends or family members. Another 5% obtain their prescription drugs from illicit street dealers and clandestine online pharmacies. This means that of the total number of people who abuse prescription drugs, …show more content…
As Dr. Zachary Meisel and Dr. Jeanmarie Perrone point out in a 2012 article for Time, the medical community was barraged with pressure from a number of different groups and organizations – including patient advocacy groups – in the 1980’s and 1990’s to significantly “step up” pain management programs. The general idea at the time was the opposite of today’s dilemma, with people of the era believing that medical professionals were not doing nearly enough to treat legitimate pain. Doctors responded to the pressure and by the following decade the number of prescribed medications tripled. But since the early-mid 2000’s doctors have been pressured to reverse these practices and tightly restrict the number of painkillers and other prescriptions they issue. The truth of the matter is that physicians been and continue to be extremely flexible and responsive to the needs of the people, despite the fact that this same group is being attacked and blamed for a problem that is in reality the result of an extremely high demand for drugs by citizens around the world