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A comment on With a 10-day supply of opioids, 1 in 5 become long-term users.

Re:With a 10-day supply of opioids, 1 in 5 become long-term ... by fragsworth on Sunday March 19, 2017 @02:00AM (#13905536)
If you're given a 10 day supply of opioids, you probably have a much worse problem than someone who is given a 3 day supply of opioids. The 1 in 5 that are still taking opioids a year later probably had a long-term problem that caused significant, chronic pain.

Looking at the study, they didn't adjust for this at all. Also, keep in mind: 1 in 5 are continued on prescriptions, which are given by doctors who assessed the situation and thought it was OK to continue it. It's NOT saying that 20% of people who try opiates for 10 days become hopelessly addicted, which the clickbaity headline implies.

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Re:With a 10-day supply of opioids, 1 in 5 become long-term ... by smsm42 on Sunday March 19, 2017 @02:24AM (#13905615)
Wanted to leave the same comment and found a few here saying the same. It is surprising how such an obvious objection has not been addressed - unless they expected most of the readers to miss it, which is then very sad.

The deaths figure - 91 per day or about 33K per year - seems to be the deaths of all opioids (including heroin abuse, etc.) and not the prescription opioids, which are half that:

https://www.drugabuse.gov/related-topics/trends-statistics/o...

Moreover, prescription deaths are relatively stable for last 6 years (though lower before that) while heroin deaths are raising quickly.

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Re:With a 10-day supply of opioids, 1 in 5 become long-term ... by sergior on Sunday March 19, 2017 @07:08AM (#13906410)
The study obviously has an agenda.
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Re:With a 10-day supply of opioids, 1 in 5 become long-term ... by empath75 on Sunday March 19, 2017 @07:22AM (#13906457)
I was given at least a 10 day supply of opioids after laproscopic surgery even after I told them I wasn't in a lot of pain and didn't even really want them. I stopped taking them after 4 days and still almost have a full bottle left. They asked me if I had an opioid problem when I told them I didn't want them. Didn't ask me prior to that.
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