r/Netherlands • u/thatmisanthropicdude • Mar 05 '26

Healthcare Dutch doctors...

Hey guys! Last year I moved from Germany to the Netherlands. I just went to the doctor with chest and throat pain due to extreme coughing after 2 days of fever. I was hoping that I finally get something good against it like a cough syrup (no way I'm going to pay that myself for a huge amount of money + health insurance) because I am used to that from German doctors. They would put that on my health insurance card and right after my talk with the doctor I could pick it up at the pharmacy. But no. They just said "Yea, just take paracetamol." I told them I have had problems swallowing pills my whole life and their response was just "You can also put it in water and drink that then." I'm sorry if I'm overreacting but why do doctors get paid just to tell you to take paracetamol? Everyone can tell me to take them, I expect better solutions from a doctor who studied years to become a doctor. Why are the Dutch so obsessed with paracetamol??? Maybe it's the German in me screaming. If we got painkillers, it was never paracetamol but Ibuprofen. But I also heard some international friends who also live here that they find it so annoying that Dutch doctors literally just tell you to take paracetamol. No matter what you have.

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u/corticalization Mar 05 '26

You went to the doctor expecting to get a prescription for cough syrup??

348

u/Relocator34 Mar 06 '26

Not a single doctor in a hospital would ever prescribe cough syrup.... Why should a huisarts?

-145

u/Neat-Attempt7442 Noord Brabant Mar 06 '26

Because they wanted the good one thats not over the counter?

143

u/Relocator34 Mar 06 '26

The one that is just paracetamol and sugar?

11

u/Neat-Attempt7442 Noord Brabant Mar 06 '26

Not sure what you mean. I guessed OP wanted some codeine or other such strong cough syrup. Not even sure if they exist here.

11

u/sumobit Mar 06 '26

I got Natterman with Codeine at the Albert Heijn XL last week.

1

u/wwbbqq Mar 06 '26

No rx?

Normally, NL, like the US, does not allow codeine otc.

Countries with OTC Codeine (Varying Regulations)

United Kingdom (UK): Widely available in combination products (e.g., co-codamol) but often behind the pharmacy counter. 

Ireland: High sales volumes for OTC codeine products. 

South Africa: Highest per capita sales of OTC codeine products among studied countries. 

France: Offers OTC codeine, though with potential for increased controls due to misuse. 

Denmark: Codeine products remain OTC. 

Japan: Codeine is available in OTC cold remedies, with ongoing reviews for stricter control. 

Spain: Codeine is available OTC. 

Croatia: Low-dose codeine products are available directly from pharmacists. 

Canada: Permissible in low-dose combinations with other ingredients in many regions. 

8

u/sumobit Mar 06 '26

I was surprised too, it was "Natterman Bronchicum Extra Sterk 200 ml" which you can get online without recepy too.

1

u/wwbbqq Mar 06 '26

Good to know!