By the standards of many places in the world, medicine in the US is quite prudently distributed.

For instance I can buy antibiotics, or things like prozac at most any pharmacy. Pharmacies being a bit different than in the US. In many places prescriptions are not filled at pharmacies, but at the hospital itself. Pharmacies are often stores that sell only drugs, usually without prescription, as opposed to the US thing where you have a general goods store with a pharmacist filling prescriptions in the back.

And all the regular stuff acetaminophen/ibuprofen/etc are also of course available, though there is a difference that generally it is sold in blister packs rather than in the huge bottles of it you can buy in America.

I'm not sure it's a valid point since I can just enter in one of the 3 pharmacies near me and buy a box of aspirins for 2€. We don't have medications in supermarket but we have a LOT of pharmacies here (France).

It's still different. Needing to go to a specialized store with trained personnel to buy painkillers has a completely different appeal than just tossing bottles of painkillers into your cart next to milk and candy.

I think that's the point the parent is making, there's a lot more friction involved, you'd have to get out of your way to get large amount of drugs (amount in one box in the US is just way more than what you'd get in e.g. France).

E.g. the box of aspirin from the supermarket may have 500 pills: https://www.walmart.com/ip/Equate-Pain-Relief-Aspirin-Coated...

But can you buy a box of 1000 aspirin tablets? That would be $23 in the US: https://www.cvs.com/shop/cvs-health-ibuprofen-tablets-200mg-...

That link is for ibuprofen, not aspirin.

Aspirin is dirt cheap in the U.S.

the deal isn't the price, but the quantity: if you need 1,000 pills of any medication, you should be under medical supervision/follow-ups, not buying them like they were groceries.

Generally, sure. As for aspirin, though, if you're a couple on a common low-dose daily regimen, that's 730 pills in just 1 year without a single head or body ache.

Ibuprofen and the like are also available from the supermarket in most of Europe. Codeine and the like are not, as they're prescription only but it's not a big trip to go to a pharmacy anywhere.

I live in Europe now, but lived in the US before. The difference is that buying medications is part of weekly grocery shopping in the US more or less. It is also how it is advertised all over the place. Besides, many medications that are prescription here (or are just smaller doses) are available in large doses in the US in grocery stores.

That's bizarre and not at all a part of my experience in the US. I go to the supermarket when I need things. If one of those things happens to be a medication (because I have an immediate need for it), then I'll buy it. Otherwise, I won't.