The Author chose to write this book because he recognized that there was a correlation between street addiction and patient addiction to prescription medications and the culture of fear and stigma that currently exists in many pain clinics today. Because of the explosion in the abuse of opioid-based prescriptions too many doctors have become suspicious of their patients. In their defense, they're being investigated in some circumstances so they're making a genuine effort to cleanse their clinics of the abusers, most especially, the addicts that aren't really suffering at all (addicts masquerading as patients). Unfortunately, pain doctors sometimes get it wrong when they're over suspicious of legitimate patients needing an increase in their dose or quantity to relieve their chronic suffering. This also causes patients who take their medications as prescribed to fear their doctors when they have a legitimate need to increase their medication's strength. This book was not written to attack pain management specialists. Many have even opened addiction clinics in their own practices in order to address this epidemic, and others are doing their best to prove that they're not over-prescribing anymore. Opioid-based prescriptions are firmly settled in to the number-two-spot on the list of "most abused drugs in America," ahead of Cocaine and behind Marijuana. Prescribed opioids are America's New Cocaine, for now. It's my sincere hope, however, that opioid-based prescription medication will lose its new found status as soon as possible."
