I didn't mean to sound too absolutist, and as always these decisions should always be made by the person suffering after as much information as possible about the risks and alternatives is available. I don't think the FDA does a very good job as a "best practices" agency -- I'd rather see them police label claims and purity but otherwise butt out of people's decisions -- but the incidents I'm thinking of tended to be people who are self-medicating for athletic purposes who had been told that very high doses were just fine for keeping joints quiet.

Severe chronic pain sufferers should have every possible treatment available, including opiates, but the "drug war" restrictions on doctors and pharmacies make it really tough to get access to them.