san cristobal/maracaibo venezuela venezuela critical medicine shortage spur medical flea market peddlers offer everything antibiotics contraceptives lay among traditional fruit vegetables crisis-wrought latin american nation heave worsen scarcity drug well basic foods due tank national production strict currency control crimp import local pharmaceutical association estimate give time shortage around 85 percent drug sick venezuelans often scour pharmacies send pleas social media find treatment increasingly however turn flourish black market offer medicine surreptitiously buy venezuelan hospitals smuggle neighbor colombia find vitamins need memory say 56-year-old marisol salas suffer stroke buy pills small stand main bus terminal andean city san cristobal around venezuelans ask sellers medicine control blood pressure well birth control pills people look anticonvulsants lot recently say antuam lopez 30 sell medicine alongside vegetables say hospital employees usually provide drug leftist president nicolas maduro say resellers league u.s.-led conspiracy sabotage socialism blame medicine shortages middle market humid swelter city maracaibo dozens box full medicine include antibiotics pain killers stack top package visibly deteriorate case discolor even dirty doctor warn drug usually smuggle colombia hours drive maracaibo pose risk find lot maintain proper temperatures warn oncologist jose oberto lead zulia state doctor association still venezuelans feel choice rely contraband medicine buy medicine colombia worry label say hospital use say retiree esledy paez 62. often prohibitively expensive venezuelans many earn handful dollars month black market rate due soar inflation norkis pabon struggle find antibiotics hospitalize husband prevent foot injury worsen due diabetes treatment cost 900,000 bolivars 9.43 twice minimum wage know say pabon unemployed venezuela 's chronic shortages give rise 'medical flea market