He probably had previous experience with people trying to get benzos from him
AFAIK doctors stopped prescribing those at least a decade ago.
Well of course. Plus the doctors can catch shit from colleagues and even from the authorities. But my situation was that I had been near death, got a a few dozen diazepam with me when I was relased and then had major anxiety. The thing is, benzos are absolutely indispensable in hospital care and everyone gets an Ambien, which is basically a benzo, at night if you ask, if they forgot to offer it themselves. So these things are used like crazy. So sometimes you ask yourself when are they warranted? On the whims of the doc?
But sure, they should be restrictive and not throw them at every problem as routine.
When I was 18 I started having horrific panic attacks. The docs didn't give me benzos for which I am very bitter because that year set the tone for my life in a negative way. I was in pure hell for 6 months and I think if it was stopped immediately with drugs like benzos I wouldn't have developed such agoraphobia and a fearful personality. So in my opinion they can be underprescribed too.
What do you mean they stopped 10 years ago? The US has been known to be very liberal with painkillers and benzos compared to Europe for example. Here getting a painkiller after oral surgeries is almost unthinkable. Everyone on forums talk about their Vicodin script after any minor procedure.