“This has never been done before in the history of medicine, at least in this country, where people are forced to stop taking medicine that is effective, is working, without side effects, against their will,” Kline says in his YouTube series, Medical Myths Revealed.

“I’ve talked to people that have post traumatic stress about going to the doctor. They lie awake for 3 or 4 days before they go see the physician for fear of another reduction in their pain medicine. This is just awful.”

Many of Kline’s patients will face the same fate, If they are unable to find a new doctor willing to prescribe opioid medication.

Last year the Food and Drug Administration warned doctors not to abruptly discontinue or rapidly taper patients on opioid medication. The agency said it received reports of “serious harm in patients who are physically dependent on opioid pain medicines suddenly having these medicines discontinued or the dose rapidly decreased.” The harm includes withdrawal symptoms, uncontrolled pain, psychological distress and suicide.

In another video, Kline said he researched federal law and could not find a single reference to “overprescribing” opioids.

“Is prescribing high doses a criminal act? No. We’re doctors. We prescribe what is needed. There is no dosage limit for opiates. You can use 1,000 milligrams a day or 10 milligrams a day. It doesn’t matter as long as you’re not getting side effects,” he said.

The CDC’s controversial 2016 opioid guideline recommends no more than 90 MME (morphine milligram equivalent) a day. Although the guideline is voluntary and only intended for primary care physicians treating chronic pain, it has been implemented as law or policy in dozens of states, and by the North Carolina Medical Board.

Over 2,000 people died of opioid overdoses in North Carolina in 2018. As in other states, the vast majority of the deaths involved heroin or illicit fentanyl, not prescription opioids.