On a domestic flight I sat next to a physician. During our chats we talked about the opioid epidemic and he pointed to a push by pharmaceuticals to make pain a distinct item that needs to be treated. And how this in part led to the runaway addictions. I had thought it was purely socio-economic reasons, but the big pharama angle was new to me. Curious if there are sources for this.
> push by pharmaceuticals to make pain a distinct item that needs to be treated
It's totally reasonable to treat pain as a distinct item, especially in patients where the cause of pain is vague, or the surgical fix carries high risk - ex: chronic back pain.
