Originally Posted by
ajGoes
I had a great interaction with a charming pharmacist in Paris once. I'd run out of a prescription medicine, so I walked into one of the ubiquitous pharmacies and asked what I'd have to do to get a bottle of it. I explained what it was and told her the American trade name as well as the generic. She looked it up in a big cross-reference guide and came back with a package, telling me it was €8.00. (I think the American price was more like $30!)
Surprised, I asked, "doesn't it need a prescription?" She said yes, it does, but it doesn't matter.
Knowing French was a big help, but quite likely a non-Francophone could have gotten through the transaction without too much difficulty.
I had a similar encounter in Rome. The day after we arrived I discovered that one of the medications I had packed had only 1 tablet left in the bottle. I took it to a local pharmacy and the pharmacist looked at the label, which listed the generic name, and I got a refill for about 20% of the U.S. price.
The odd thing about this case was that I was sure the bottle was almost full when I packed it. But 3 TSA agents had a really good time unpacking all our carry-ons, so who knows?