I'm a physician. Unfortunately, most of our overdoses in North America are from prescribed opiates. They are very addictive, and despite best efforts to control and monitor dosing and schedules, these opiates are often either purposefully overdosed (suicide attempts), diverted, or accidentally ingested. My worst memory in pediatrics was a 7 year old who was brain-dead after ingesting only one (!!!) tablet of her grandfather's high-strength Oxy prescription that she thought was Tylenol.
Opiates are bad news, and physicians unfortunately were duped into prescribing way too much for the last ~15 years.
Opiates are bad news, and physicians unfortunately were duped into prescribing way too much for the last ~15 years.