Rhythms of Life: The Pharmacy

Rhythms of Life: The Pharmacy

There are pharmacies all over, several in any given neighborhood. They’re easily identifiable – they all have green neon signs that say Pharmacie and an animated version of a plus sign, in green and blue neon, as in the photo. The variation is in the animation routine. You can’t miss them!

Pharmacies here sell both prescription and homeopathic remedies and, everything except some beauty products (skin crème, etc – they don’t sell makeup…) is kept behind the counter. If you need something you describe what you’re looking for or what your problem is. Once I wanted something for a cough and the clerk asked me questions to determine what kind of cough it was (dry or hacking) before giving me something for it. Early in my stay I felt a cold coming on so I went into a pharmacy to get some vitamin C. From an earlier trip I knew I’d have a choice of chewable or fizzy tablets so I knew what to ask for. What I’d forgotten – but was quickly reminded of by the counsel of the clerk – is that the French use vitamin C for fatigue. Very earnestly I was told that I could take 2 in the morning and, if still feeling tired, another 1 (maximum 2) no later than mid-afternoon. Since it gives energy if I took it later in the day I’d risk trouble sleeping. And I was cautioned strenuously against taking more than 4 in 1 day because “that’s 2 grams you know:. Now, at home in the US, if I feel a cold coming on, I might take 4 grams during the course of the day, never with any trouble sleeping. So I read the carton carefully, wondering if vitamin C here was combined with caffeine or something else, but no, it was just plain old vitamin C. Just one of those things where each culture has its own mythology.

A couple of weeks ago I needed to find a doctor for what was essentially a sports physical (I’d signed up for an exercise class and I needed a note from a doctor - a certificate medical - to participate). I’d asked a friend how to find a doctor and we discussed that it was probably better to find someone in my neighbor – in case I got sick there’d be someone I’d already been to and I wouldn’t have to get on the subway to go to the doctor when feeling miserable. But how to do that? She suggested I find a pharmacy in the neighborhood and ask. Hmmm… So I asked another friend (an American who’s lived in Paris more than 30 years) and she said the same thing. Then, when I registered for the class I asked again. Same answer – go to a pharmacy in the neighborhood and ask for a recommendation there. OK, so with 3 answers all the same, I decided that was how it’s done here.

Since I also needed a flu shot and had seen signs in the windows of a couple of pharmacies announcing that flu vaccine was in, I went to one of those and got 2 doctor recommendations but also discovered how flu shots work here – you go to the pharmacy and buy the vaccine (a pre-filled syringe in a small carton) and then you take it to your doctor or a nurse (or in one account I’d read, to the vet who lived in the building) to get the shot assuming you don’t want to give it to yourself! Well, since I needed to go to the doctor anyway, I figured I’d bring the vaccine with me. The clerk asked me if I lived far away, I said no, just around the corner as she told me to take it home and put it in the fridge until I went to the doctor.

OK, so now I had the names of 2 doctors in the neighborhood. I called one to make an appointment as was told ‘no appointments’, just come and wait, anytime between 9 a.m. and 8 p.m. except for between 2 and 3 (lunch). I went late one Friday and the waiting room was packed with sick folks so I decided that waiting was a bad strategy and left. I considered going Monday a.m. but I thought maybe that would be busy after the weekend so I picked first thing Tuesday morning and jackpot! No waiting! It was a pretty routine office visit (I did have to translate blood pressure into milliliters…the internet is SO helpful) and I left with my certificate and had my flu shot too.

Now for the really interesting parts – the first concerns cost. Doctors here fall into 3 groups – those who accept the government set limits – they’re referred to as ‘conventionée’ (much the same for us with insurance payments), those who accept them for some things but charge extra for certain other things and those who don’t. The doctor I went to was in that middle group but the office visit/physical/flu shot cost me all of 22 euros. The flu vaccine itself was just over 6 euros. The total was less than my copay for a routine office visit at home…. And if I’d been covered by French social security virtually all of that would have been reimbursed.

Next surprise – many doctors here make house calls within their neighborhoods. In fact, the practice where I went has 2 doctors – one has office hours in the a.m. and makes house calls in the p.m., the other has the reverse schedule. Oh, and by the way, the house calls are a little more expensive – 32 euros!