people experiencing legitimate pain are becoming casualties of our crackdown on "inappropriate" prescribing.
Perhaps in America they are so easy with the opiates because people have a real or perceived need to get back to work. When I had to have two impacted wisdom teeth removed the pain and swelling was completely under control with ice bags, aspirin and two days off work. A low wage at-will worker in the US can't do that.
This is a rather salient point. In the Netherlands, if I needed (in consultation with my doctor, of course) to stay out of work for a year to recuperate from illness or injury, I can do that and continue to receive my full salary. The second year would be at 70% salary. My job would await my return - only after 2 years would I be separated from my employer and have access to other long-term disability benefits.
In the US, FMLA generously "guarantees" 12 UNPAID weeks of medical leave in any 12 month period while still being able to return to work (provided you've met other conditions of hours worked, and the location where you work has 50 or more employees, etc etc.) Enforcement may require lawyering up, so it's de facto useless for low-wage workers - or middle-class workers who don't want to be blacklisted from future employment, as, yes, background check databases do prominently flag people who have sued their employers.
And did I mention FMLA leave is unpaid? If you can't afford to take unpaid time off work, you're using vacation days unless you're in one of a handful of localities that require employers offer a few paid sick days per year.
If you can't afford to take unpaid time off work, you're using vacation days unless you're in one of a handful of localities that require employers offer a few paid sick days per year.
Yes, on occasion they do send mass email here asking to donate vacation time to XY, who is recuperating from surgery. It makes one reach for the bucket to throw up in every time.
For the first six weeks the employer (small employers need mandatory insurance for that), after that their health insurance (which gets some lump payments from the federal government for that).
Short and long term disability insurance is common with professionals jobs in the US. After that social security kicks in.
The only think I can think of is the abuse must be rife in the Netherlands? Shit, at full salary I certainly wouldn't be in a rush to get back to work.
I'd hardly consider taking days off from work only to sit at home in pain to be "rest". I'm lucky enough that I can afford to take days off to rest when in pain post-surgery, but I'd still want something to help with the pain.
Perhaps in America they are so easy with the opiates because people have a real or perceived need to get back to work. When I had to have two impacted wisdom teeth removed the pain and swelling was completely under control with ice bags, aspirin and two days off work. A low wage at-will worker in the US can't do that.