Buying Medication

brassil

I will need to buy medication during my stay in Goa this winter. Can anyone tell me how much prescription medication is in general - I need two different meds and asthma inhalers. Thanks for your help

Moon

Hi,
In India, you can buy any medicine used anywhere in the world, if the chemist can understand the name, so if you have the generic name along with the speciality name, it would help. maybe you could carry empty used packs which mention the trade name and the generic name. And even if you forget to carry the prescriptions, no need to worry. Most states the drug shop will not ask any questions and give you what u need.

john.sw

Most "pharmacies" in India are merely drug shops.

They sell drugs, but know nothing about them.

The chances are that your medicines will be available in India for 10% of the price you pay at home.

However, most medicines are produced by different manufacturers under different names.

You need to know the generic name of your particular medicine, then the shopkeeper can look it up in his or her big book and let you have have it.

All drugs and medicines are marked by law with a Maximum Retail Price, i.e. MRP Rs.2.5

You can buy "prescription only" drugs at most drug shops without a prescription. If you want a prescription, you can get one from a qualified doctor for a few rupees.

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brassil

Thanks guys - thats a huge relief!

divadino

Apparently the only thing you can't get 'over the counter' is sleeping pills! I find this hilarious given that you can do as much damage by overdosing on all sorts of other drugs!

The 'pharmacy' I used when I got stomach cramping didn't seem to have any kind of qualified pharmacist so I asked for a copy of their equivalent of 'Mims' (the directory of drugs) and looked up my symptoms in the index and then decided which of the various drugs listed were most appropriate for my symptoms - only cost 80 rupees for what I needed.

Dinah

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goangoangone

My regular pharmacist wouldn't sell sleepers to a friend but another did. Like everything else, there's always one.

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Indiafan

You may also get sleeping bills from pharmacits in Candolim, Goa