Why Can't Americans Do Anything In Moderation?

One of my biggest gripes about my own country is that it seems incapable of doing anything in moderation.

The overuse, over prescription of opioids of course has been a staggering social problem the last few years in the U.S.

But now we're only at the beginning of the clampdown on these drugs yet if you have chronic pain it is ridiculously hard to get them when you need them. It's frustrating. Why is impossible for this country to do things in moderation?

I feel your pain! But not enough to take opioids.....I KID, I KID! But yes, I agree and that is part of our charm I guess. We don't half ass it that's for sure.
When it comes to opioids it makes me wonder: how the fuck did we handle our pain thirty years ago? Is every medical procedure now that much more painful than it used to be? And you are right about people who really need opioids (or any medicinal drug that is misused for recreational reasons) having a tougher time getting their meds because they are lumped in with the drug abusers.

They can, and it is a shallow stereotype to say otherwise.

bottom line, your culture is focused on being lazy and gluttonous.
specific to the opioid "epidemic", that's your medical establishment being beholden to (often 2 degrees or less of separation) to the insurers and pharma industries.

this is why I'm a pot head... didn't want to become a junkie for simple pain management.

Sorry rick - you may have visited here or even live here for short periods - but trust me for the most part Americans (as in United States) do take things to extremes in many areas of our daily lives and general mindset. This is why many things are polarizing here.

Says the fat guy???

This moo cow wants to know why Americans don’t moderate? Just look in your barn sized mirror to figure it out.

I don't know Dayton's body fat percentage so I won't single him out, but the "all you can eat buffet" pretty much speaks volumes about the US disdain for moderation.
But I love the classic excuse "I'm a big boy! I need to eat real food!" coming from the owners of Sherman tank sized trucks who are squeezed into those big fucking trucks, which is really pathetic.
They need those trucks to take them home to their 79 inch TV when they sit on their ass watching 16 straight hours of football peppered with weight loss and boner pill commercials. Fuck that shit!

True enough, but in this instance, the issue is with doctors that got pressured into overprescribing medicines to their patients by Big Phrma until you had 12 yr olds were getting medicine meant for surgical recovery for ankle sprains.

Dayton's right for once.

Because folks would rather shout jingoisms than have a nuanced discussion on a subject. I can think of more than a couple of posters here who are poster children for such attitudes.

I'm more about the platitudes...
or maybe it's the platypii platypusses
these fuckin' things

First god created marijuana, then he created the platypus.

Maybe, but the number of times he's not is...staggering.

I hope to do better.

Staggering?

Massively.

Yes, we know you plan on lowering the number of times you are correct because you want to be perfect and that is the path of least resistance.

Dayton attacking Americans and Rick defending them. What a day!

Only on 9/11.

Ironic from someone who lost a foot because of his inability to moderate his food consumption.

What makes you think I had a foot amputated?

Notice he doesn't argue about his food intake.

Well yeah......

If it wasn't staggering than his premise that Americans can't do anything in moderation would be wrong.

Also, people with only one foot tend to stagger when they attempt to walk.

Yeah, but what about your left foot?

I was making fun of the staggering number of rote terms he uses over and over again (staggeringly, overwhelmingly, arguably, etc).

It's...staggering.

Notice you did not deny lying about my supposedly having a foot amputated. That's @Tererun level assholeness.

Congratulations on your accomplishment @Fisherman's Worf .

It's all about money, and not just bribes and kickbacks. Reimbursements are now largely impacted by patient satisfaction survey scores. Any time you have a procedure done at a hospital whether in-patient or out-patient should result in a telephone call or written survey in the mail. It'll ask you to rate your experience on a 1-5 scale with 1 being a nightmare and 5 being perfect. Any score other than 5 impacts the amount of money the hospital gets paid over the long run and a score of 3 or lower is counted as a 1. You can give world class clinical care and still get screwed because dietary made someone angry by bringing their meal late and thus, impacting your survey score. It's turned skilled clinicians, who often have advanced graduate and post-graduate degrees, into waiters, bellhops, and maids.

So, how does this relate to the opiod problem? A lot of stuff hurts us. A lot of procedures are painful and leave people in pain. If you've ever witnessed a surgical procedure or had a surgical procedure performed on you, you know it's not a delicate, gentle process. Patients that hurt don't give 5's on the survey, so the staff is now going to make sure your stay was perfect in every way.