I suspect the GP has mixed up several things here. Many drugs in the UK are available “over the counter” in the UK for pennies - next time you’re in Heathrow A

I suspect the GP has mixed up several things here. Many drugs in the UK are available “over the counter” in the UK for pennies - next time you’re in Heathrow Airport, if that ever happens again, check out a “Boots” store and you’ll find you can buy Ibuprofen for £0.25 for 24 tablets. I have never seen even a drug such as Ibuprofen for sale in the US for a price remotely comparable. However, if a GP or secondary care doctor _prescribes_ Ibuprofen and you fulfill it via an NHS-servicing pharmacy, the price is whatever the prevailing rate of the NHS prescription charge is - currently £9.15 - though substantial discounts are available in many situations. Further, a friendly pharmacist will often advise patients not to fill the prescription at all and to buy the over-the-counter equivalent in such cases. Also in the UK, generic drugs are issued _by default_ where possible, and only if the bioavailability of a particular medicine is important is it considered acceptable to dispense specific brands upon request.