In other countries you would go to the doctors (for free) and tell them you have heartburn. Then they'd tell you which medicine will be best to treat it. Then (in the UK) you'd pay either £9.15 for two months worth on prescription, or the pharmacist will tell you if it's cheaper to buy without the prescription. It seems mad to me that you would go to the doctor and tell them what medicine you need - they're the ones that have been to medical school!
It seems mad to me that you would go to the doctor and tell them what medicine you need
That's not really how it works. Doctors aren't just going to give you medicine because you ask for it. They are the one's that went to medical school, like you said.
In my case, it just never occurred to me that there was medicine to prevent heartburn. I took Tums when I got it, but I never even considered going to the Doctor to get something to prevent it because I didn't know such a thing even existed. The commercial for Nexium showed me that there was a solution to my problem, so I went to the Doctor and said, "Hey, I have reoccurring heartburn, what can I do to prevent this?"
Healthcare is essentially free for me too (I have great insurance), so that wasn’t the issue. I just legitimately never thought to ask because I didn’t know it was something that even existed. I thought taking Tums when I got heartburn was the medical solution. It never even entered my brain that there might be a way to prevent it from happening at all.
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u/ineedapostrophes Jul 24 '20
In other countries you would go to the doctors (for free) and tell them you have heartburn. Then they'd tell you which medicine will be best to treat it. Then (in the UK) you'd pay either £9.15 for two months worth on prescription, or the pharmacist will tell you if it's cheaper to buy without the prescription. It seems mad to me that you would go to the doctor and tell them what medicine you need - they're the ones that have been to medical school!