We were asked for a complete list of drugs on board when we entered French Polynesia in Tahiti. The only real prescription medication we had were some heavy duty anti- biotics and a pain medication in the event of trauma. We had a major engine room injury half way between the Tuamotus and the Marquesas, about 250 NM from land. The anti-biotics turned out to be a life savor, the pain medication, not so much. Infection is always a severe problem in any injury when you're that far from land. Because of the anti-biotics on board, we never had a problem with it. The crew member with the injury didn't have a lot in the way of pain with the injury but elected to take the pain medication anyway. It was hydrocodone. He became violently ill soon after and we thought it may have been associated with shock from the injury. Finally, we took him off the hydrocodone and he got better, but was dehydrated and weak by that time. The crew member spent 11 days in the hospital in Nuku Hiva and had two operations. He had chickens wandering in and out of his room and had to use "OFF" to keep the mosquitos away, but the quality of the medical care was good. The cost for all this? $3200. When we got back to Hawaii, I took him to an American doctor, who referred us to another doctor and gave us two bogus diagnoses. We ended up in an Emergency Room for six hours, only to have the doctors there tell us that everything looked good and the the French doctors had done everything right. Cost for the day? Almost $3200. I'll let you draw your own conclusions. There is a fairly new wound package that will stem bleeding from even the most severe wounds. My daughter-in-law is an administrator at a hospital and she gave us some for our passages. Unfortunately, it appears to have a shelf life of only about a year. Phil Eslinger Flat Earth N50