Health care - part 1

I am going to do a couple of posts about health care in Germany, comparing the situation here to how things work in Canada. Today, a look at the distinction between die apoteke and die pharmazie.

Back in Canada, a pharmacy (especially in recent years) has become a one-stop shop for all your vaguely personal needs. Shoppers Drug Mart now sells everything from cough drops to cameras. The big one near my house in Ottawa even has a post office, a photo-development lab, and a cell-phone shop under its roof. You can also get your prescription filled there.

On the other hand, here in Germany there are two types of what we would call "pharmacies", and their roles are quite distinct. At the pharmazie you can find shampoo and kleenex and that sort of bathroomy stuff (they even sell wine). But the apoteke only sells prescription drugs.

I went to the Burg Apoteke last Wednesday evening to get some pain killers for my shoulder. The place was empty except for two pharmacists. I didn't have to stand in line behind a bunch of old folks, and my prescription was filled in less than a minute. None of this "it'll be ready in half an hour" they give you back in Canada. The pharmacist explained (in English) how often I should take the pills, I paid a token 5-euro service fee (the pills themselves being covered by my health insurance). I didn`t even have to show my health-insurance card, as the bar-code on the doctor's prescription linked everything back to a central computer that magically keeps track of who pays what.

Interestingly, there are apoteke everywhere. Apparently Germans take a lot of pills, and the pharmacists here have a lot more leeway than those in Canada. I think you can just walk in to an apoteke, explain your condition, and the pharmacist will prescribe (and sell) something on the spot (although I am not sure if this is actually the case, so don't take my word for it).

And Christine noted that - oddly - for a country where people are so concerned with their health, there sure are a lot of smokers.