Doctor's say 10% of the population can become addicted to pain medication. Thats why many physicians prescribe medicines such as percocet and oxycontin as a last resort.

"That's my job and any pain physician job is to see what can I do to make their pain less and make them more functional that doesn't have to do with pain medication," says Dr. Wendi Lundquist works at PARS Interventional Pain and Wellness Center in Parkersburg.

"Prior to prescribing any pain medication, a history and physical exam must be done to determine where the pain generators are initially," says Dr. Lundquist.

Dr. Lundquist says that if she feels medication is the best way to alleviate the pain generators, she then looks for the patient's risk for addiction.

"We're protecting the patients and sometimes they don't always know they're at risk. There are certain risk factors such as history of drug and alcohol abuse, certain psychology problems that put them in a higher risk category," says Dr. Lundquist.

If the patient is not in a high risk category, Dr. Lundquist says she will prescribe medication. She says the best way to prevent abuse is to follow up with a patient.

"In general pain medications can be and are useful if given to the appropriate patient for the appropriate pain generator," says Dr. Lundquist.