At a small pharmacy tucked into the Beirut neighborhood of Tariq al-Jdideh, a pharmacist recently had to deal with a rather vexing problem: he was running out of drugs. As an example he pointed to an empty box of Vastarel, a medication imported from France and used by patients with heart conditions, or who have suffered strokes, to protect their arteries and improve circulation. It is also a chronic use medication, meaning patients need to maintain a regular supply for a treatment that is long-term. The pharmacist said the health of patients who come to him regularly for Vastarel would be threatened should they not have access to their medication, yet he’d been unable to order in new supplies of the drug from his wholesaler or the importer. Instead, he had to go outside Beirut to buy the medication his patients needed at the pharmacy of a friend, who,
