One thing that pisses me off, as a late-career doctor, is the number of younger GPs who seem to be scared to prescribe certain S4 medications.

Especially low-dose benzodiazepines and codeine — even when these drugs have a proven track record and are beneficial for our patients’ welfare.

I don’t know whether these practitioners are afraid of aiding and abetting patients to become addicts, scared of being caught up in a prescribing web, or just too busy to care for patients with chronic illnesses.

These medications, however, when used judiciously, can greatly benefit patients — without resulting in misuse or harm.