I had a patient die from an OD: She stole the MSContin from her cousin, also one of my patients, who had terminal cancer. She took it to get high. Am I to blame?

there is a big difference between drug abuse, addiction, and taking a medicine for pain.

For the elderly, it’s a problem: The best medicines, e.g. NSAIDS, can cause fluid retention, kidney problems, and bleeding ulcers. But narcotics can interfere with their ability to function. I usually told them to take NSAIDS with an ulcer medicine, but at night, if the pain was worse, to take a mild narcotic to lessen the pain to sleep.

Endocet is actually for moderate pain. We use in the elderly instead of codiene formulas mainly because it causes less constipation.

I am glad you are getting physical therapy and other non drug treatments for your pain. Not everyone can get these treatments, alas, but they work. Even the cheapskates at the IHS (Indian health service) always had physical therapy for our patients for this reason, but few family docs are knowledgable about this and give out pills.