The Land of Antibiotics

The Korean drug store system is quite different from other countries.
In Western countries, a doctor's prescription is necessary to buy lots of medicines.
But Koreans can buy most kinds of medicine without a doctor's prescription, even antibiotics and sleeping pills.
Most Koreans know the brand names of medicines through media advertisements.
For a while, medicine ads were too overstated, so the government began to regulate them a little.
 
You can find pharmacies in any residential area.
Still many people ask for advertised medicine without a doctor's advice, and it causes overdoses and misuse of medicines.
For this reason, when Koreans emigrate to foreign countries, doctor's prescriptions don't work on them because they have built up a tolerance against many antibiotics and cold medications.
 
In Korea, drugstores have the names of their regular customers and their medical history.
There were not enough doctors in the 1970s and 1980s, so drugstores acted as clinics like national those in Western societies.
It improved the national health of Korean to a degree.
At present, the best-selling medicines in Korea are drinks for hangovers, antacids and energy boosters.
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¢Ñ Expressions
 
¢Â Antibiotics Ç×»ýÁ¦
Antibiotics are drugs that are used in medicine to kill bacteria and infections.
Ex> Your doctor may prescribe a course of antibiotics.
 
¢Â Over the counter <¾àÀÌ> ÀÇ»çÀÇ Ã³¹æ ¾øÀ̵µ ÇÕ¹ýÀûÀ¸·Î ¾à¹æ¿¡¼­ ÆÈ ¼ö ÀÖ´Â. ¾àÀÚ: OTC
If the medicine can be bought over the counter, you do not need a prescription to buy it.
Ex> Are you taking any other medicines (whether on prescription or bought over the counter)
 
¢Â prescript medicine ó¹æÀüÀÌ ÀÖ¾î¾ß »ì¼ö ÀÖ´Â ¾à.
 
¢Â Hangovers ¼÷Ãë Á¦°Å Á¦
¢Á Hangover
If someone wakes up with a hangover, they feel sick and have a headache because they have drunk a lot of alcohol the night before.
 
¢Â Energy boosters ÇǷΠȸº¹ Á¦
 
¢Â Antacids Á¦»êÁ¦