The reason for the high cost is not the fact that you can't by a 1000-count bottle -- it is the fact that German pharmacists form a cartel that is protected by

The reason for the high cost is not the fact that you can't by a 1000-count bottle -- it is the fact that German pharmacists form a cartel that is protected by laws that they lobby for extensively. In the UK you also can't buy more than 32 pills of ibuprofen/aspirin/paracetamol at once without prescription -- but the cost is 1-2 cent per pill because every supermarket including ALDI can sell them.