A chemist comes back from his lunch break

A chemist comes back from his lunch break.

He finds his assistant busy behind the counter, and a man twitching while leaning against the wall.

“What’s going on?” he asks. The assistant tells him that the man came in for some cough syrup.

“Well, did you give it to him?” asks the chemist.

“No, we didn’t have any,” replies the assistant. “So what *have* you given him?” asks the chemist.

“Laxatives,” replies the assistant.

The chemists stares at the assistant, then the man, then back again.

And the assistant says, “Well, he doesn’t want to cough now.”