BOSTON -- When you hear the word Oxycontin, you may think addiction. But a growing number of pain specialists are concerned the drug -- one they argue is a critical medicine for pain management -- is getting a bad rap.

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Heather Unruh Reports On Oxycontin RESOURCES American Pain Foundation

NewsCenter 5's Heather Unruh reported that some patients, who really do need it, are finding it hard to get.

There have been robberies and headlines. The prescription painkillers -- known as opioids -- now rank second to marijuana as the most abused drugs in the country.

"For every person who abuses these drugs you don't hear about the tens of thousands of people who are suffering with persistent pain which is not adequately treated," Palliative Care of North Shore Dr. Lewis Hayes said.

"I would be in tears a lot of times. I would go in my room and shut my door because I didn't want to scare my son. The pain was so bad," said patient Sandy Hultgren, 53.

According to the American Medical Association, many physicians are no longer prescribing opioids. They are fearful that the drug will fall into the wrong hands or that they'll be fined or even jailed.

Some insurers, including Medicaid, are placing stricter limits on the amount of these drugs patients are able to get.

"Any increase dose or change in agent may require a new prior authorization form and it can be cumbersome," New England Medical Center nurse Marybeth Singer said.

That can take days, leaving some patients waiting for medicine.

Bone cancer patient Marion Merrill used to get the Oxycontin and Percocet she needs for severe back and neck pain online, but many Internet pharmacies don't sell them anymore.

"For someone that is housebound, that would be one of the worst things in the world that could happen to you," Merrill said.

The author of a book on prescription drugs, Dr. Jerry Avorn, said that given their history of misuse, caution in carrying and prescribing opioids is reasonable.

"It can be habit forming. It's not something that you want to just refill the prescription every time a patient asks for more, because that's just a recipe for problems," Brigham and Women's Hospital Dr. Jerry Avorn said.

But Hay, who goes door to door to help some of the sickest patients on the North Shore find relief, said that opioids are often a safer choice than high doses of Advil or Tylenol.

"We have been conditioned, we meaning providers to use every drug but these as a last resort and yet in fact, they are the safest of all those to use," he said.

Hays convinced Hultgren 's doctor to prescribe the opioid Methadone. Already, she's feeling much better.

"I feel like I have more control over my life," she said.