ttrr, Great point!!!
Chronic pain is definitly being under-treated, I have a herniated disc, and My GP used to allow me #120 5/500 vicodin, per month, WOW he thought that he was over-medicating me, and accused me of being a drug-seeker when I asked for a higher strength.
I now see a pain specialist, he has me on a long-acting pain med, along with an IR med. I no longer have to worry about having adequate pain relief.
I have read so many study's that prove that only a few # of pts that are taking narcotic pain meds,long term, actually get addicted, and these few have usually had some type of problem in the past, with addiction. I know that without having this new Dr, I would probably have to DD.

Terri