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I woke up and felt there was something wrong with my lower lip. It turned out I have a cold sore. It hasn't happened to me for a while but since I'm one of the 90% who has it I knew what to do. Or at least I thought I knew. Once again it turns out living in another country means some things you take for granted are not.
In Poland I would just go to nearest pharmacy and buy any ointment containing acyclovir (Antivir or Zovirax). Here however they are all prescription drugs and you cannot get them without visit to a doctor (otherwise known as a giant waste of time). There is one (ONE!) drug that actually heals herpes and is not for prescription. And unlike acyclovir it's still under patent so it's very expensive. It's probably allowed because it's not actually antiviral. I suppose they have something against uncontrolled antivirals here but at the same time there are shelves full of ointments with antibiotics.
On the other hand Claritin that I use for allergy symptoms is a prescription medicine back in Poland and here one can buy it anywhere including grocery stores. And the pain relievers like acetaminophen (American version of paracetamol) are in sizes that would destroy your liver if you choose to swallow them all at one time.
Sometimes I think these things depend on the mood of whoever makes the decision.
And one more thing. Here there are commercials for prescription drugs. It still feels a little weird to me. In Poland, as in most countries, it's illegal. Only over the counter medicines can be advertised. It's because therapeutic effect is not related to success at convincing consumers they need it. Advertisements are suppose to make people think they can't live without things they don't really need. This combined with the fact that most people are unable to understand what the drugs actually do can be a dangerous combination and lawmakers usually prefer to let doctors decide.
On the other hand it just means pharmaceutic companies will do anything to seduce doctors to chose their products but at least doctors understand what the drug actually does and the implications of that (or at least they should and they should care).
In Poland I would just go to nearest pharmacy and buy any ointment containing acyclovir (Antivir or Zovirax). Here however they are all prescription drugs and you cannot get them without visit to a doctor (otherwise known as a giant waste of time). There is one (ONE!) drug that actually heals herpes and is not for prescription. And unlike acyclovir it's still under patent so it's very expensive. It's probably allowed because it's not actually antiviral. I suppose they have something against uncontrolled antivirals here but at the same time there are shelves full of ointments with antibiotics.
On the other hand Claritin that I use for allergy symptoms is a prescription medicine back in Poland and here one can buy it anywhere including grocery stores. And the pain relievers like acetaminophen (American version of paracetamol) are in sizes that would destroy your liver if you choose to swallow them all at one time.
Sometimes I think these things depend on the mood of whoever makes the decision.
And one more thing. Here there are commercials for prescription drugs. It still feels a little weird to me. In Poland, as in most countries, it's illegal. Only over the counter medicines can be advertised. It's because therapeutic effect is not related to success at convincing consumers they need it. Advertisements are suppose to make people think they can't live without things they don't really need. This combined with the fact that most people are unable to understand what the drugs actually do can be a dangerous combination and lawmakers usually prefer to let doctors decide.
On the other hand it just means pharmaceutic companies will do anything to seduce doctors to chose their products but at least doctors understand what the drug actually does and the implications of that (or at least they should and they should care).
