> The second prescription was a lot more reasonable
No it wasn't. Fewer than 1% of post-surgical patients given opioids develop any sort of abuse whatsoever.[1] Under treating pain is in no way medically responsible.
It is true that there's a (very weak) association between high opioid prescription rates and society wide abuse. But that's entirely due to outright fraud and diversion. Just because some crooked doctor is fabricating prescriptions on dead patients to supply the mob with Oxycontin does not mean that legitimate patients shouldn't have their pain adequately managed.
Narcotic analgesics are literally a medical miracle. The force of Neo-Puritanism are forcing millions to suffer needlessly.