General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: The medications that change who we are [View all]DFW
(54,349 posts)My wife has a friend in New England. She had gone through some kind of horrible intestinal flu that left her insides wrecked. Nothing she could get in the USA helped, but someone told her about some drug sold in Germany she should try. She called my wife and asked, so my wife went to our local pharmacy and asked if she needed a prescription. "Oh, that stuff? No, you don't need a prescription for that." So she bought some, sent it over, and it cured her friend's ailment right up.
On the other hand, when we are in the States, Germans beg us to bring them back some Neosporin. It appears an antiseptic ointment with antibiotics is an unknown concept here. A tube of it costs less than $8 over the counter in any American drug store.
I'm sure there are far more effective drugs out there in other countries than any of us know about. The quirks of the local pharmaceutical market (and, obviously, the clout of pharmaceutical companies) keep certain drugs unavailable that people would otherwise buy in droves. The makers of pain killers and muscle relaxants would probably carry out assassinations if they thought there was a danger of Tandrilax coming on the US or European market. A pill (from Brazil, of all places!) that cures severe muscle pain, works for days, weeks, or even months, and costs $1 ?? If it were available in the USA, our pharmaceutical companies would probably lose hundreds of millions in sales, or else secure exclusive import rights, and arrange for the pills to cost $150 apiece. Martin Shkreli, anyone?