The Pharmacy

On Friday I went to the pharmacy to buy cough syrup for Jeff. The way pharmacies work here is that there is a separate store for all things related to medicine and hygiene (soap, make-up, etc). For medicine, I have to talk to a guy behind a counter and he brings the product out. I look at it and decide if I want it or not. If I want it, he puts the medicine in a bag and tells the cashier how much my total purchase costs and then I wait for the cashier, who ends up having to confirm the price with the guy again, and then leave.

There is also strong government regulation on pharmacies. For example, they cannot open a pharmacy within 100 meters of an existing pharmacy. The law that causes problems is that medicines cannot be marked up more than 20%. That is not enough of a mark-up to run a business - hence all the additional products.

So I was at the counter and I asked for cough syrup. Jeff had specifically asked for syrup with the ingredient expectorant. Or something like that. So the guy brings out an all natural syrup. It cost 25 LE, which seemed expensive but I was willing to pay if it was the right product. I looked at the ingredients: licorice extract and honey. I asked to see another one. He brought out another one for about 18.50 LE that was the same thing. I have honey at home and I've been putting spoonfuls in Jeff's anise tea! So I asked for something that is not all natural. The guy brought out another product. It cost about 10.25 LE but didn't have the right ingredient. So I asked for another one. He brought out one called Pepto... something for 8.25 LE. I wasn't convinced it was for coughing. I opened up the insert, and sure enough, it was for a cough, but didn't have that ingredient that Jeff wanted. By the time I figured out it was for a cough, the guy had already brought out another one - 3.75 LE with Expectorant right on the box, in English. It's a fraction of the price of the "really good one" the guy first brought out, and had 50% more syrup. So for $0.68 cents, Jeff is happy.

I wanted something else, but at that point I took the first one he gave me. I wasn't about to go through that process again!