What Can We Learn from Studies of Medical Care in Other Countries?

Forty years ago I was shown proprietary data from a pharmaceutical company that listed the 10 most popular drugs in several European countries and the United States. The striking finding was how little overlap there was among the different countries. In the United States it was antibiotics, antidepressants, and tranquilizers. The German list was dominated by suppositories. Italy had hormonal preparations for both men and women. The most popular French drugs focused on the liver. This was my first lesson on the benefits of cross-national research.