That's the entire medical industry model.
The focus is sick care, not health care.
Reminds me of the so-called "Chinese Model" of health care. You pay your doctor until you get sick. Then you
stop paying him until he gets you well again.
I was heavily addicted to alcohol and cigarettes and it does take balls to break away from them (not that those are "hard drug" addiictions) on a long term basis.
I quit alcohol in 1993 and I have absolutely zero impulse to imbibe any more, although for a couple of years after that if I drove by a liquor store on a Saturday, I'd instantly think about if I had enough booze at home to get through Sunday. Other situations also triggered that kind of thing. That's where having the balls comes in. (At the time, sale of liquor on Sundays was forbidden.)
I quit smoking in September of 2017 and I still get occasional pangs of desire for a cigarette. That's where having the balls comes in. That is also diminishing slowly as time goes on.
Now, of course, as I said, these are not "hard drugs" but if that decay function pattern holds for hard drugs, it looks like the main factor is having the balls to let time do its work.
Terry, 230RN