Fentanyl topic split off election thread.

[arewethereyet]

How often have you sought medical care in the US?

Me personally luckily never, I have been several times in US but never needed a doctor there. I have anyway part of my family in US and also my brother in law he is from US though he lives in EU since 3 decades at least.
I am a professional in industrial biotech so I know a couple of things in drugs, nutraceuticals and integrators manufacturing and markets and I have a network of friends from all over the world, and when we meet we talk also about the different health approach in different countries. I also own a company where we have 5 toxicologists looking into health effects of medical devices, impurities in drugs, food contact material interaction with food etc etc and I have a bunch of customers form US, in addition many in my family are medical doctors.

Fentanyl: it is just one of the many examples that I can do for "different approach" between Us and EU and also other areas.
As a pattern, I noticed and it has been confirmed me multiple times by people who lived in both EU and US and needed a doctor, that in the EU we tend more to intervene on lifestyle and drugs, whereas in US you tend more to go for the "the pill fixes the problem" approach.
It may be also related to the thing that we do not consider "health" as a "market" as much as it is in the US, and because good prevention measures costs next to nothing: walking, eating less calories, cook fresh food etc etc

Since the big opioid crackdown a few years ago, getting anything for pain from a doctor is not that easy.

The many Fentanyl deaths are more black market than they are from prescribed meds.

I had experience with pain meds when my breasts were removed.  I am glad that it was before the opioid panic.  But even then the most potent thing I was given hydrocodone.  And the surgeon didn't want to prescribe that.  The plastic surgeon and my regular doctor were more understanding.  And I didn't develop an addiction since I needed it for pain relief.

Your knowledge may well be not of the real life variety.