A Drug Story

Buying drugs here in the Philippines makes for yet another interesting experience. Sorry kids, I’m only talking about the over-the-counter variety. To start off, “over-the-counter” has a connotation that implies simplicity and quick turnaround that must be ignored in this country. Everything for sale in a typical drug store is available only by asking a pharmacist: including some shampoos, skin care products, and anything with a medical warning label (which is basically everything in the states). That wouldn’t be so bad if it weren’t for a few other small facts.

Pharmacists here know nothing about their own trade. I seem to know more about drugs that they do just because I have an aspiring pharmacist as a friend. The Filipina pharmacist I spoke to couldn’t tell me if a certain pain medication contained caffeine, what the side effects are, or even how to take it. Wikipedia would have been helpful had I had a laptop, wireless connection, and half an hour to kill reading about the history of Tylenol, the Tylenol Crisis of 1982, and the copycat murder phenomenon.

There are no brand names. None: and that tends to make things difficult. You only get blank stares when you ask for Advil, Tylenol, Sudafed, Dramamine, or any other name brand that has managed to replace the drug’s name in conversational English. Suddenly, a trip to the drug store becomes a puzzle: what is name of the main ingredient in the drug I need?

Nothing can be sold in bulk. I’m not sure if it’s a legal problem or a cultural difference. But if you ask for a box of medicine all you get is the deer-in-the-headlights look. That looks basically means you’ve asked for something impossible but they can’t refuse. So what do the respond with? “Yes, sir.” The Philippines is the only country in the world where “yes, sir” means “there is a problem”.