The Untold Story of Government's Role in the Opioid Epidemic | RealClearHealth

The Untold Story of Government's Role in the Opioid Epidemic | RealClearHealth:
"...This is not just the case with government’s response to the American opioid abuse epidemic; it was also the case with the bad government policies that contributed to creating and worsening the crisis in previous years.
This history should make us wary of government’s increasingly heavy hand in health care.
...But it’s important for Americans to understand that the initial over-prescription of opioid drugs was no accident.
For one thing, the Veterans Health Administration was one of the earliest adopters of a pain management strategy called “Pain as the Fifth Vital Sign,” originally advocated by the American Pain Society."
...Doctors outside of the VHA system faced pressure from the government as well: The Center for Medicaid and Medicare Services included questions about pain management in patient satisfaction surveys that were linked to payment, encouraging a standard of patient-pleasing over good medicine. 
This — along with the example set by VHA policy — fostered a culture that encouraged health-care providers to offer pain-relieving prescriptions, popular with patients, without adequate regard for the potential long-term consequences. 
...Our public health crisis in opioid addiction is, in part, the sad result of government policies with good intentions but harmful consequences. 
This should be a powerful warning against enabling government to make sweeping decisions about our health going forward.