Thats odd.
I did not know that.
Here , if you have seen a doctor a few times, you can call in - meaning call his office and speak to his nurse- about what is going on with you and see if you can get a prescription called to a pharmacy so that you can pick it up there and avoid the doctor visit fee.
Here , just walking into a doctors office can cost you any where from 25.00+
Some places require a certain percent of the visit cost up front and that can be hundreds of dollars... just to talk to a doctor
At our pharmacies, instead of buying the entire RX at once, you can buy a few days worth, or a pill or two at a time . There is no restriction there
No matter the country, I would think that calling a doctors office and asking questions to the nurse, or even the staff , would be allowed no matter what.. And that was what I was suggesting he do.