The Soviet supermarkets, if you remember, had an interesting property. If a product was on the shelves and was not sold, then they began to charge it to another, more popular one (as a mandatory addition). These coercive measures have had, it must be said, a huge economic effect. Imagine how a pensioner, with an iron, was forced to buy dumbbells, and schoolchildren were offered crutches in a backpack. The Soviet era was over and with it such an interesting form of commerce was forgotten. Nowadays, managers are grappling with the problem of increasing sales, drawing on the experience of their western colleagues, while our homeland has been able to give birth to super profitable schemes. Remembering that all that is new is an old forgotten good, some have already started to look into the Soviet past.

One of the specialty pharmaceutical magazines suggested actively recommending a number of products in the feed for all antibiotics. Dear Olga Evdokimova, in the September 2006 issue of Aptekar magazine, writes: "And what prevents us from using this method in a pharmacy to increase sales? After all, there are products which can be recommended in addition to the main purchase... antibiotic therapy implies the need to use a number of drugs ".

Let us decipher this "necessity". Each buyer is simply required to purchase an antihistamine with an antibacterial agent. Antibiotics very often cause allergies (skin reactions, angioedema, anaphylactic shock), therefore antihistamines should be recommended to avoid such dreaded complications. Ms. Evdokimova in this case trusts Tavegil, Suprastin and Fenistil. Do you take antibiotics for a long time? Do you really think you will avoid dysbiosis? Along with the purchase of any remedy, it is necessary to stock up on drugs that normalize the intestinal microflora. Well, at least kefir; in short, buy at least something. Do you want to go back to your old life? "Antibiotics cause superinfection". The author of the article suggests to recommend immunomodulatory agents with a trailer, for example Polyoxidonium, for prevention. It is not known if she knows what secondary infection is. Well, what is this antibiotic therapy without concomitant homeopathic treatment? Homeopathic medicines are recommended in connection with the toxic effect of antibiotics (Galsten, Hepel). A separate article is hepatoprotective. Any antibiotic, according to the author of the article, can harm the liver, and only a timely recommendation from a pharmacist will avoid a serious complication (artichoke extract, Liv-52). The seller who doesn't give you multivitamin preparation is a bad thing. "Due to the suppression of normal intestinal microflora, when using antibiotics, hypovitaminosis can develop, so it is advisable to recommend multivitamins containing a complex of vitamins and minerals with antibiotic therapy" . Cool expression in general. It is better, of course, to sell expensive complexes containing copper, because "it is able to bind to microbial toxins and improve the effect of antibiotics" (Bio-Max, Vitrum). The last of the control will be active biological additives containing cranberries or raspberries. We do not know exactly why these berries, probably they are just delicious, there is a need to sweeten all this cocktail (Breath formula, Life formula).

So if you notice, instead of one drug - an antibiotic - you can easily take out eight. Especially if you are far from being a doctor, a retiree inclined to suggestion and action by the media, or simply trust your pharmacist who lives in the neighboring house.

We now turn to the financial aspect of the question. Suppose that your goal is an amoxiclav and that you plan to spend between 280 and 300 rubles. Now imagine that the pharmacist fully uses the recommendations of Apothecary magazine:

Two big differences or four small. 300% compared to the original plans! Think about the drug interactions for a second, because most of these drugs will be taken at the same time. And what will be the compliance? Will the patient forget to take an antibiotic? The packaging of the latter is the most modest of these drugs. By the way, instead of the author of the article, I would not stop there. Where are the anti-diarrheal and anti-emetic drugs? There are also such effects. Why are there no contraceptives in the recommendations? God forbids getting pregnant during such treatment. Where are the dark glasses (photosensitivity)? Where's the mouthwash?

Be careful when talking to a pharmacist, suddenly a seminar on the exchange of experience has already taken place in your pharmacy...