I think you completely failed to read between the lines - the article is a criticism of rapidly increasing number of people addicted to pain pills in US and their excessive consumption across the country.
I'm pretty sure the author is a woman... the article says she got a hysterectomy, which is surgery to remove a uterus. (She also mentions her husband in the opening paragraph)
Overall this is a pretty disappointing article, for a verity of reasons, one it does not really express anything it just tells a very boring story with seamingly no point
It advocating for less pain management in the US? or better pain management in Germany, I cant tell
It is critical of the idea that citizens of the US desire to eliminate pain? I am critical of cultures that endorse and support living with/in pain
"Excessive" consumption is subjective depending on your point of view. Further the increasing number of people addicted to opioids is a complex issue that has some correlation to prescriptions but can be debated on if that is the cause as other factors can be at play, further the increase in DEATHS as a result of said increase in addiction IMO can be more closely linked to the ever increasing desire to treat addiction as a crime not as a medical issue which causes a whole host of black market issue including quality and potency inconsistency in supply chain directly leading to more Overdoses
