> Yes, this is a HUGE concern for me. The over-prescription of
> antibiotics in Japan is way worse than in the USA where I thought it
> was bad.

I can't agree with you on this one. When I caught a heavy cold, the doctor
would prescribe drugs that lasted 2 or 3 days only in order to force me back
and provide him with a handsome income. And since the pharmacy next door is
often manned by a close relative, it's a perfect symbiosis. On of my
neighbors gets bigger volumes of drugs since she has a chronic disease.
In Germany it's far worse. Pharmacists will give you drugs that are packed
in various sizes. I had to throw out many of them after the expiration date,
and they were hardly used.


But the real problem is the Japanese notion that if a doctor
> doesn't prescribe you with some sort of medication on each and every
> visit that doctor is somehow incompetent.


If he operates the pharmacy himself  it's called 'self-interest'. They are
even selling the free samples too!!! Well, a woman dermatologist in my area
did it and forgot to tear off a label at the back side of the tube... I
would have reported her if I was a Japanese!