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Customers often ask for antibiotics. Instead of explaining that no antibiotic does any good against virus infections, druggists usually tell them they need a prescription. (Virtually the only antibiotic preparations not on prescription are tablets containing small amounts, for sore throats.) They then generally recommend aspirin in one of the proprietary versions of APC on which there is a fat price markup. Though the medical benefits of aspirin are not easily measured, most doctors agree that it does some good, somehow.
* In France, la grippe originally meant only influenza; Germany's die Grippe covers various flulike illnesses; in the U.S., "grippe" is often used for infections intermediate in severity between the common cold and flu.