Daylight robbery?

On the one hand: retail theft is soaring and, according to the British Retail Consortium Retail Crime Survey 2011, pharmacies have been particularly badly hit. Why? Lower staffing levels, longer opening hours and the fact that burglars nick ibuprofen to treat their occupational back strain (I made that last one up).

And on the other:  I was in a pharmacy not long ago and overheard the pharmacist dealing with a man who had conjunctivitis.

Yes, of course, he could buy some chloramphenicol drops. But did he know they were running a three-for-two promotion that weekend? So if he bought some Echinacea to, "Help fight off the infection", he could get a free supply of vitamins, "To build up your immunity"?

Which begs the question, who is robbing who, exactly?