The same arrangements are made with certain pharmacists, dentists, and surgical instrument makers. There was one physician in Chicago who made it a practice to say to certain of his patients:
“You are getting along very nicely, but recovery would be much more rapid if you could take a little extra special treatment. But I hesitate to suggest it on account of the expense and the difficulty of procuring the proper ingredients.”
“Darn the expense, Doctor, if the stuff will do me good. What is it, and where can I get it.”
“There are several ingredients, and the only place in Chicago where there is any prospect of finding them is at Doem & Doem’s. But they don’t always have a supply. They are foreign preparations, very expensive, and there is such little demand for them that pharmacists dislike to carry them in stock. I’ll write the prescription, but I can’t vouch for your getting it compounded. At any rate if you can’t get it filled at Doem & Doem’s, there’s no use trying any other drug store.”
“You dwell so on the expense, Doctor, that I’m curious. What will it cost?”
“The expense varies somewhat. The last patient I supplied with the prescription had to pay $23.25.”
“That’s nothing.”
The prescription is written and Doem & Doem find on it a cipher telling them that the patient will stand for $25. As a member of the firm glances it over he says to the customer:
“This is a very rare and expensive preparation. It happens that we have just about enough material on hand to fill it, but I feel that I should warn you first that it will be very expensive.”
“I expected that. Dr. —— told me that it would probably cost $23 or $24.”