Paging Dr. - oh, wait, I don't need one

I've had my fair share of visits to the doctor while I've lived in India - 4 in the last 7 months. In the US, I generally don't go to the doctor for a cold and usually don't take any medicine. I'm more of the "it's a cold and will go away on its own" type. It seems however, that my immune system is not bouncing back the way it usually does. My last cold lasted over two weeks. So about a week into the cold, I did what every reasonable expat does - I went to one of my colleagues at work and asked what I should take.

He asked me what my symptoms were and told me what he recommended. No, my colleague is not a doctor, med student or even scientifically gifted. He's a lawyer. It doesn't seem to make any difference though. He gave me a list of about 6 items to take for my cold and that evening, I went to the drug store - without any sort of prescription - and picked up these items - including some antibiotics. All for about $4.

I took these drugs and lo and behold, I got better - quickly. It's not uncommon for people to self-prescribe and even more importantly, to know what to self-prescribe. I would have had no idea what drugs to take (since at most I would go to the store and pick up Advil Cold and Sinus), but everyone here seems to.

Two things about this. First drugs are crazy cheap here. It kind of makes you wonder why they are soooo expensive in the US. The manufacturing costs are the same, they've already gone through FDA approval - and yes, I know there's all kinds of research and development costs to consider, but still - I can't get OTC drugs for $4, much less antibiotics. It makes no sense to me.

Second, most meds do not require a prescription and most people seem to know how to prescribe the right stuff for themselves. Sure, they may ask a doctor friend or relative, but after a bit, they just figure out on their own what they want, go to the pharmacy and pick it up. I don't know that this is the best thing - after all, from what I can see, this seems to lead to a tendency to over rely on drugs - so they become less effective over time and superbugs get created. Notwithstanding that it would have been a bit inconvenient for me to have to go to a doctor and get examined before getting medicine - it probably would be better to have someone tracking what drugs I'm taking over time to see if maybe, just maybe, they aren't the rights ones for me and/or I don't really need them.

All I can say is that I hope for my remaining time in India, I can avoid another doctor's visit and/or a referral from my colleagues for more meds.