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Because of Shipman, apparently. Cut to me driving around with a boot full of neat, pharmaceutical-grade heroin, looking for a chemist's to drop it off at. Entirely on trust that I wouldn't flog it (of course, I wouldn't!) And this was in Weston, where there would have been a lot of takers.

Yeah and it’s like i know this, of course i know, and especially now that our kids are of an age to be getting into absolutely everything and yet!!!

One time there were two pharma rep looking women in my GP's waiting room and the absolute crushing dread I felt until I realized they were just regular business women on their lunch break there to pick up a referral for one was eye-opening.

same, same, hence the therapy

When we first landed in Glasgow, we used to linger at the reception desk on our way out of the surgery, to make sure they had a fair chance to grab us for a bill. Margaret was hospitalised for a short visit, and we walked out through the lobby as if we were walking through treacle. Not skipping out!

I had to go unexpectedly here in NL this week, and the cost was so small. And they said if I felt like I needed a follow up next week it wouldn't cost anything additional.

It's often as much because the insurance company got a payoff from a manufacturer to carry a different drug, usually a brand name. US pharmacies also saw starting a decade ago that generics companies do this, too, so only one generic manufacturer of a drug is covered, regardless of availability.

Ugh. This is the worst of the migraine aura thing, not being able to see. “Oh, I’m getting a migraine. Have to email work that I can’t come in. Oops, can’t see to email.” I’m glad your meds were in date (and sorry didn’t work).

Honestly, even as an Irish person this feels worrying to me. My first thought was legit "sharps? But what if it slices through the bag and cuts the binman", which doesn't actually make much sense due to not using loose bags. I suppose it's a work sharps hang-up of "don't hurt the cleaner!"

😬

Probably also for environmental reasons, I bet one thing people do with them otherwise is flush them.

depends on the med tbh

i have meds from 2017 bc what if!!!! and i was having a hard time getting my duloxetine from my pharmacy for some reason, so my gf gave me their non-expired leftovers to tide me over until my shit got sorted. backup meds in case of cost or just... pharmacy issues just seems reasonable to me lol.

Ah ok! Well, I mean, in a secure cupboard for your kids to deal with one day is fair enough. (I remember a small bottle of valium minus 2-3 pills, dating from the year of my eldest sister's birth. My mum had kept it to remind herself they were worse than the PND and never to take them again 😬)

That is so messed up. And my mum *still* complains that we pay £10 per medication because of Maggie Thatcher. Note that she's an oap, so her meds are free... 😂

It’s not that i think the U.K. is a perfect system, it’s just that i remember what it was pre-2010 and therefore how it is capable of being, and i also am comparing it to the USA, so

I live in the US, so I do actually need to keep my old and unused prescriptions, and have resorted to my stash many times in the past. I’m pretty sure I could never let that behavior go no matter how long I lived in a country with access to healthcare. Because you simply ✨never know✨

But also you never know…….

Oh, that's a good point 2nd and 3rd hand trauma from that incident *could* actually explain people all jumping to say the same thing. PSAs do tend to stick better when designed by someone traumatized and determined that this won't happen again.

My family has been fortunate in having good insurance but that's definitely not the typical case. This is definitely a case of people with few options deciding which seems least-worst.

yes but that’s not the conversation at hand

For a even less extreme example; when my father-in-law was dying of cancer, he was (among other things) prescribed co-codamol. I had a broken shoulder during this time, and was also prescribed co-codamol. We had identical pills to take - same manufacturer, brand, packaging, dose, binders etc. 1/3

Seeing that, yes it would be illegal if a relative with back problems offered a half a muscle relaxant. But whether or not it would be excusable is a different question. Because I had enough medical care to know it was a muscle spasm, just not enough to get an rx.