A recent article in the New York Times reported that there were likely more than 59,000 deaths from opioid overdose in the United States during the year 2016, an increase of 19% over the number of such deaths in 2015. Many of these victims became addicted to narcotics after being prescribed opioid analgesics for episodes of acute pain. Previously, physicians were told that the incidence of addiction in this setting were virtually zero. It is now known that this is not true. But just how easy is it go get addicted to opioid medication used to treat pain? In this episode, Steve Aks and I will discuss.