Elderly patients, disabled patients and/or senior citizens on Medicaid/Medicare should be released from the monthly visit for refills of pain medications requirement. They’ve probably had a debilitating condition they’ve been dealing with for years, so getting to/from a doctor every 30 days is cumbersome/painful and inconvenient, at best. Besides, any pain med prescription can only be filled every 30 days, so they can’t “abuse it” - if they do, they’d be short, and in pain for the remainder. Also, most are managed by some type of care-giver that administers doses, as prescribed.