Medication Nation

Went to the emergency room this afternoon, because I thought my nectarine was trying to kill me. Turns out what I thought was a piece of nectarine lodged in my throat was a big scratch on my esophagus from a tiny shard of the pit. These two things apparently feel exactly the same. Anyway. The triage nurse asked me, on a scale of 1-10, how much pain was I feeling. I told him zero; I was just exceedingly uncomfortable. He wrote it down on my chart. The nurse who treated me in the observation room asked how painful my condition was. I told him not at all, and he wrote that down on my chart. The doctor came in, looked at my chart, asked me what kind of pain I was in, and I told him none. He wrote it down. Later, as he's discharging me, the doctor hands me a prescription for Vicodin. I told him I didn't need it, because (again) I wasn't in any pain. He said to take it anyway just in case.

I remember how, even 10-15 years ago, it took a lot of convincing to get a doctor to prescribe anything, let alone a powerful painkiller. Now I have a doctor pushing narcotics on me over my protestations. Is this one reason why half of all Americans are on prescription drugs and why addiction to prescription painkillers is a big problem? Yes, and it's insane, and it must confuse the heck out of kids who are supposed to understand why there is a War on (Some) Drugs^TM.