Opioid addiction is at an all-time high in the U.S., and according to many addiction specialists, pain and hopelessness are primary drivers of this burgeoning crisis. Limiting the availability of opioids and making overdose-reversal drugs and treatment for drug addiction more readily available are part of the answer. But it’s not enough.

We have to take a much deeper look at the root of the problem. What is causing all this physical pain and emotional distress in the first place? Clearly, the U.S. health care system is grossly ineffective when it comes to addressing chronic health problems. Whether pain is promoting hopelessness or the other way around is difficult to ascertain, but the two appear to be closely intertwined and need to be addressed together.

Somehow or another, we need to refocus our efforts to create lives worth living, and improve access to and information about basic disease prevention, which begins with diet and basic lifestyle choices — the kind of information I’ve focused on with my newsletter and website.

That said, it’s worth looking at how use of prescription opioids ended up getting so out of control. Doing so will reveal an oft-ignored truth: Drug companies may, and often do, promote drugs that do more harm than good. After all, drugs are profit centers, and drug companies are first and foremost beholden to their shareholders — not patients — who expect to make a decent profit from their investments.

To maximize sales, drug companies may hide information, misinform and/or outright lie about their medicines, and this is precisely what happened with narcotic painkillers.