A friend of mine was put on an opioid to manage chronic neck pain, which she had suffered as a result of an auto accident. She takes the narcotic daily, and is concerned when she is about to run out, because she experiences withdrawal symptoms. The accident happened more than a year ago and she knows that she does not need the medicine anymore, but she has built a ‘tolerance.’ sadly, we both know her using the term ‘tolerance’ is simply an easier way of her facing the addiction.

It is quite a risk and responsibility for any physician service provider who prescribes drugs such as Vicodin, Percocet, Darvocet, and other drugs in the opioid family come with dangerous risks, and run the patient the potential risk of becoming dependent.

“In 2007, 11,499 people in the United States died from opioid overdoses, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That was more than the number of overdose deaths for heroin and cocaine combined,” according to an article in Physician News Digest.

Medical professionals in the physician services industries are utilizing ‘pain contracts,’ to ensure their patients are taking such medications, as prescribed. PND explains that, “the agreements may require patients to submit to blood or urine drug tests, fill their prescriptions at a single pharmacy or refuse to accept pain medication from any other doctor. If patients don’t follow the rules, the agreements often state that doctors may drop them from their practice.”