This is one aspect which is stupid, agreed, and based on a terrible and possibly willful misunderstanding of how addiction works. It’s also based on an assumption that the average person is educated on medicine in a way that is wholly out of touch with reality (“you mean the average person doesn’t know the max dose of acetaminophen off hand and keep meticulous track of dosage? But I do that, of course, I’m a doctor/pharmacist”)

but in addition there is added pain relief from the combo of acetaminophen + hydrocodone/oxycodone vs the opioid on its own so there is some justification for it outside of punitive approach for addicts. If you’re going to prescribe both anyway after something like a broken arm or wisdom tooth extraction there are also benefits to this: cheaper overall to just have one pill, easier to manage for the patient, etc