Living in a dream world

That's where a lot of us think we should be living - a dream world.  Life should always be kind to us.  All of our illnesses should be brief and without pain.  How else to explain the fantastic rise in the use of painkillers?   In the few years of this century the number of prescriptions for painkillers has quadrupled.  Vicodin and related generics are the most prescribed drugs in the country.  

There is a cost beyond dollars for the almost epidemic use of painkillers.  More than 15,000 Americans now die annually after overdosing on prescription painkillers called opioids, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention — more than from heroin, cocaine and all other illegal drugs combined. Today, drug overdoses are now the single largest cause of accidental death in America.

Certainly unscrupulous doctors have always existed; some doctors' offices are simply distribution centers for painkillers.  But it is also the case that many doctors now subscribe to the belief that we should be able to live lives free of pain and suffering.  Conditions that were once considered a normal part of living are now treated as illnesses, often based on very little evidence.