How do you decide to attribute something to "modern medicine" versus "The Game of Telephone, Medical Style"?

For example,

>Giving patients highly addictive narcotics for pain relief.

Is the opioid epidemic modern medicine's fault? Or is it more the fault of doctors who over-prescribe coupled with the lack of a sane healthcare system?

Also, are there viable (read: equally effective) alternatives to opioids for pain relief?

>Giving patients broad-spectrum antibiotics

Is the rise of antibiotic-resistant bacteria modern medicine's fault? Or is it more the fault of patients who do not finish out their full regimen?

And again, are there viable alternatives to broad-spectrum antibiotics?

>Covid 19 spreads 3M in Europe but only 6ft. in the USA

Distancing guidelines were meant to provide a general reference point, not magical thresholds at which COVID is incapable of passing over... They're going for a distance that is easily visualized, is situated well up on the "diminishing returns" curve, and (when combined with other measures like wearing a mask) provides an "acceptable" risk of exposure.

Sneezing, for one example, will throw respiratory droplets much further than the recommendation for social distancing.

>N95 masks don't prevent infection but surgical masks work great

I'd like to see a source for this claim if you don't mind, as a quick perusal of the FDA[0] and CDC[1][2] do not show this statement anywhere. Everything I've found states they're fairly equally effective. Everything I've found also says that N95 and surgical masks are not recommended for use outside a profession which requires them:

Q: Should I purchase personal protective equipment such as facemasks or N95 respirators for me and my family?

A: No. Surgical masks and N95s need to be reserved for use by health care workers, first responders, and other frontline workers whose jobs put them at much greater risk of acquiring COVID-19. The cloth face coverings recommended by CDC are not surgical masks or N95 respirators. Surgical masks and N95s are critical supplies that must continue to be reserved for health care workers and other medical first responders, as recommended by CDC.

--

CDC does not recommend using masks for source control if they have an exhalation valve or vent.

Masks are not surgical masks or respirators. Currently, those are critical supplies that should continue to be reserved for healthcare workers and other medical first responders, as recommended by current CDC guidance. Masks also are not appropriate substitutes for them in workplaces where surgical masks or respirators are recommended or required and available.

--

CDC also links to a study[3] that found "Surgical and N95 masks were equally effective in preventing the spread of PCR-detectable influenza". There are plenty of related studies which come to the same conclusion.

>viruses don't spread while sitting but spread while standing in a restaurant

Again, how is this a "modern medicine" issue, or a "conflicting and dubious public health guideline"? They're not saying "the virus won't spread as long as you're sitting down!", they're saying "if you fucks have to go out, at least try to stay apart for everyone else's sake".

[0] https://www.fda.gov/emergency-preparedness-and-response/coro....
[1] https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/prevent-getting-si...
[2] https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/prevent-getting-si...
[3] https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19522650/