[pfranz]

Hard-won experience? I vaguely remember when Sudafed got put behind counters because it was used to make meth. I don't frequently get sick. Often, the last medication I bought is expired by the time I need it again. One year, I found something that worked for me. Another year, I thought I bought the same thing, but it just didn't work. The one I had originally bought (same brand) had a behind-the-counter version that worked. It's annoying to catch the pharmacy when it's open, but now I just ask the pharmacist for generic Sudafed with the smallest-lasting dose (so I can decide if I want to take more).

I've found with most medications looking for an active ingredient and an amount is helpful. You can search for effectiveness or side-effects. The brand I got last time isn't always available and they'll have 3-hour or 12-hour versions with warnings about exceeding recommended dosages (or mixing medications). Or company annoyingly package similarly-branded things that just aren't the same.

[samtho]

> I've found with most medications looking for an active ingredient and an amount is helpful. You can search for effectiveness or side-effects.

Is this not common practice? I would be uncomfortable taking an ambiguously labeled “cold medicine” pill, personally. I know which medicines are effective for me and which are a waste of time and money.

[lazide]

The vast majority of the population has zero interest in looking at what is in medicine, and even less interest in researching those long complicated names.

They buy a brand that promises to fix what they don’t like, and if it works, they buy more next time.

[jampekka]

This is something quite striking in US where there is a full aisle of "cold medicines", "headache pills", "back pain reliefs", "muscle ache aides" etc, and they are all the same stuff (ibuprofen/"Advil" or paracetamol/acetaminophen/"Tylenol") in different packages. In Finnish pharmacies it's mostly just three or so "generic" paracetamols or ibuprofens in different brands.

[skissane]

> This is something quite striking in US where there is a full aisle of "cold medicines", "headache pills", "back pain reliefs", "muscle ache aides" etc, and they are all the same stuff (ibuprofen/"Advil" or paracetamol/acetaminophen/"Tylenol") in different packages

Some years back, Reckitt (British-Dutch multinational) got in trouble with the ACCC (Australia's competition and consumer protection regulator) for doing this. Selling "Headache Pain", "Back Pain", "Period Pain", etc all next to each other, despite all having identical active ingredients. The ACCC took them to court for misleading consumers, and won.

https://www.accc.gov.au/media-release/full-federal-court-ord...

[Nursie]

Yeah that was their Nurofen brand.

"We can charge twice as much if we put it in a pink packet and say it's for period pain".

Very deceptive.

[maweaver]

Most of them (especially the cold medicines) are not just ibuprofen/acetaminophen but are a "cocktail" that will also include dextromethorphan, guaifenesin, phenylephrine, diphenhydramine, etc in different combinations/amounts depending what they are intended for. I don't personally use them but I could see how it could be useful rather than buying a bunch of individual medications.

[cbm-vic-20]

You get that in the US, too. The funny thing is that in many cases, the generic compound is sold in a box that is similar to the box that the "brand-name" version is sold in; they'll sell the same thing in different colored boxes.

https://www.cvs.com/search?searchTerm=acetomeniphen https://www.cvs.com/search?searchTerm=ibuprofin

[squeaky-clean]

I think this only supports their point. If you follow the acetomeniphen link and filter only for CVS brand items, there's still 51 different ones. Sure some are sensible divisions, like low dose for children, liquid versions, nighttime versions with something to make you drowsy.

But there's also one bottle of pills labeled as Arthritis Pain Relief. And one labeled as Muscle Pain relief. Which both have exactly the same medicine and the same time release capsules.

There's a Migraine variant label, a Tension Headache variant label. Just "Headache" relief. There's Back and Body pain relief (though that one is Apsirin, it's just showing up in the acetomeniphen search).

[lazide]

Sounds like an untapped market just waiting for more market differentiation to ‘help’ the consumer!