Sorry, pain patients — ‘The state of New Jersey’ is your new doctor

When a man or woman goes to school to become a doctor, he's entering one of the most noble professions in modern society. He has the life of the ailing in his hands.

This is why doctors take the Hippocratic oath and solemnly vow to "first, do no harm".

It needs to be stated that there are always going to be bad apples in every barrel; doctors who are less competent than others, doctors who would look to deceive their patients, and doctors who misdiagnose overdiagnose and otherwise harm.

Let's assume now that 90 to 95% of every single doctor in it of all doctors in the state of New Jersey are honest hard-working and knowledgeable. Now, let's also assume that after all of their intensive schooling and training, they come to realize that they cannot do for their patients what they believe to be in their best interests unless a government bureaucrat gives them permission.

Whether or not you believe that the "five pills only" statute is going to be a significant deterrent to heroin abuse, and I do not, you have to be against this law if you want to keep attracting and growing good doctors in the state of New Jersey.

The problem is not this law in and of itself itself (even though I think it's stupid and nonproductive,) but it's part of a larger trend of belittling physicians in in this country, turning them into nothing more than government puppets and assuming they are all potential criminals. (Not to mention the prevailing presumption that all pain patients are also potential criminals and the government is the only thing that can save them from themselves.)

Eroding a patient's faith in our doctors is bad for our health. Think about it: A significant part of the relationship between the patient and doctor is the trust that patient has in the doctor's ability to heal him or her. Once that trust is eroded, and the relationship breaks down, that person is less likely to be healed. Why is that?

Because there's no disputing the mind-body connection when it comes to healing and health.

When you give a doctor your trust and you have confidence that you are in capable hands it makes you feel better stronger and more able to fight whatever it is that ails you. That's not to say that we should blindly follow doctor's orders. We're lucky enough to be able to do our own research in this day and age to become highly informed patients.

On the other hand, if you know your doctor is being controlled, monitored, restricted, and otherwise having his medical judgment questioned, you will not feel as safe in his hands. Why not just skip the doctors altogether in that case and go straight to the government for diagnosis and treatment?

Tying the doctor's hands like this and mandating that they can prescribe only five days of pills initially accomplishes very little and mucks up our already mucked up healthcare system. This is to the detriment of legitimate patients to perhaps save a couple of addicts from getting their hands on prescription opioids.

To harm and inconvenience most to perhaps save the lives of a few has never been something that I can support. And physicians are put-upon so much already in this Obamacare climate that to push them further is to disrespect the medical community and allow yet more government intrusion into areas that they have no business being in.

We have allowed this to happen little by little in New Jersey to the point where we don't even realize how egregious this is. But take a step back and think of it this way: We put our lives in the hands of these doctors; we depend on them to make the decisions that save lives, but we don't trust them not to abuse the power of the blue pad.

If I had friends or children seeking careers in medicine in this day and age I would strongly discourage them because ultimately, having your instincts, intelligence and expertise questioned by a governmental body smacks of the worst type of socialized medicine.

If we allow this to continue, then we we have only ourselves to blame when the only doctors left are the ones who don't have the confidence or competence to make their own decisions anyway.

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Dennis & Judi are on the air weekdays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tweet them @DennisandJudi or @NJ1015.