As Annie said, she has an “addiction prone” personality so she is (I am assuming) more likely than average to abuse drugs, even drugs prescribed legitimately. In her case, limiting medications to those that are absolutely necessary makes sense. For such a person doctors really do need to consider alternatives to medication whenever possible.
You have to define “needed”. Needed in what sense? To preserve life? Mitigate pain? Treat conditions that are annoying but not life-threatening?
She elected not to take painkillers when she broke her wrist. That is a legitimate choice and hers to make. Some people would say they “need” painkillers for that, apparently she has alternate ways for coping with pain (which may include toughing it out) and, in light of addictive tendencies, her choice might have been better both medically and psychologically for her.
Maybe I have some empathy for people reluctant to take prescription medications because I have a life-long condition that many doctors push medications for - medications that can, over the long term, cause everything from fungal infections to cataracts to diabetes. If you’re only taking the drug(s) for a couple weeks every few years that’s one thing, but if you’re looking at life-long, daily use you’re virtually guaranteeing those side effects at some point. The alternatives can be inconvenient and require some work on the part of the affected person, but I prefer that, and living with fewer drugs in my system, to needing cataract surgery and insulin.
Now, if Annie was talking about refusing, say, chemotherapy for cancer that would be a different matter but that’s not the vibe I’m getting from her.
To be fair - having the mental fortitude to withstand that sort of pain IS unusual and looking into the patient a little deeper is hardly unreasonable in my opinion.
Also, there is a distinct difference between morphine dependence and morphine addiction. If you’re dependent you’re not seeking a high and you’ll probably be much more tolerant of withdrawal symptoms, even to the point of being willing to go cold turkey, with no further desire to seek the drug. Addiction is a different kettle of fish.