Is it really just because of the fentanyl situation? I know there is a huge disagreement with how the strict rules for prescribing opioids are so tight even for chronic pain patients like myself who can’t participate in life without em struggle to find a provider who is willing to prescribe us them.
Because 1% of a few million people is still thousands of them.
Also, I’m not sure if the 1% figure is really that accurate, as it should become much higher when people are on them long term. The problem is that most opioids were prescribed to be safe for long-term use, which wasn’t true.
In this case it’s more that 1% of hundreds of millions is still millions. Opiates get prescribed to basically everyone at some point in their lives, so it’s basically just 1% of the population