jrf said:Are the farmacia's licensed? Does anyone know what criteria is needed for these to be open? It is so easy to purchase just about any drug there.
That's fine when you are using a gringo's level of education and experience to make your own medical decisions, but that is not the case for many of the locals. It is bad enough that there are many poorly trained doctors here but add to that pharmacy personnel (pharmacists?) dispensing medications with zero medical training. We make decisions on which anti-hypertensive or antibiotic to take based on our past experience with competant medical providers. Here they make the decision by which medicine the pharmacist recommends, has in stock and is cheapest.GringoCArlos said:Not only are pharmaceuticals easy to get, but lots of farmacias also deliver. It's great when you are sick, and it's part of what makes this country so great, compared to other places..
GringoCArlos said:Well Rick, how long would any change in the laws like this stand up, if the poor Dominicans found out that they would now have to go see a doctor, spending the few pesos they have to first get a receta before they could then save up more money to go and buy the darned medicine in the first place. The pharmacist is usually the poor's "doctor" in the DR.
Ability to buy ANY medicine is a big enough obstacle to the poor. Adding cost to their plight won't hold up in the D.R., and people like me get to enjoy the freedom of bypassing the doctors.
I don't think ricktoronto said that the typical Dominican was busy thieving to find the cash. Is that your viewpoint?jrf said:And yes, I do agree that the overuse of antibiotics leading to more and more problems-but I doubt that the typical Dominicano is going to have that problem. Since, as you say, they will be too busy thieving to find the cash.
Mirador said:for years, my great uncle had the only pharmacy in Barahona, a thriving business indeed, with which he raised his family with comfort and even luxury. I always thought he was a licensed pharmacist, however, I found out that he hardly made it through high school education, and that he payed a licensed pharmacist to sign the necessary papers. One of his daughters, is a licensed medical doctor and pediatrician, and the other, my cousin Sonia, who owns Farmacia Churchill (on the avenue with the same name in SD) is in fact a licensed pharmacist. There's a law that says that no two pharmacies can be closer than 400 meters. However, this is not enforced, Actually, I'm on short walking distance to at least 10 pharmacies, some almost next to each other. WARNING!- Like in any other business, there are unscrupulous operators, and I strongly recommend checking every purchase for expiration date, tampering, and even outright falsification of name brands and products.
Am I going to have to point out every time you don't know what the h*ll you are talking about? Due to the lack of regulation many pharmacies are selling counterfit or outdated medications. BTW very few medications are produced in the DR, almost all are imported.indiana16 said:cription.
I noticed that the medication in DR is more effective than in the states.That's probably because they have less regulation when preparing medications. .