Has anyone bought prescription meds from a Canadian pharmacy?

[LoveBWVVBR]

Has anyone from the states bought prescription meds from a Canadian pharmacy? It is really common to do this where I used to live since it's as simple as physically crossing the border. I'd need to purchase them online, though. I've found what looks like a good Canadian pharmacy, geared strictly to selling to Americans apparently. Our prescription drug costs are INSANE due to having a high deductable health plan through DH's work. Our toddler's Flovent inhaler is $143/month WITH insurance. Through this Canadian pharmacy, it's $31 a month (brand name...the generic, which is not available here in the US, is cheaper). Oddly, her Xopenex is a lot more $$ through the Canadian pharmacy, though...not sure why

Anyways, I'm thinking about getting our monthly maintenance meds through this place. It would save us around $200/month since DH's allergy drug is $79/month and both of our DDs are also on a reflux drug. Can I get in trouble for buying from a Canadian pharmacy as an American? Can the meds. get held up in customs or anything? I'm actually not worried about drug safety...this pharmacy gets very good reviews and drugs are simply cheaper in Canada. I'm more worried about the "legality" of purchasing prescriptions from another country and having them shipped to me. I'd love to hear others' experiences!

 

[DebMcDonald]

I work in a cardiologist office and only one of my patient's gets his prescriptions from a mail order canadian pharmacy, but he handles it all himself, so I'm not sure who he uses, most of our regular patient's use mail away pharmacies now - Medco, Right source, Caremark. I'd also call around and get prices with and without your prescription coverage. Costco, BJ's, Target and Walmart, you will find varing prices, but some much better than others.

 

[hoffmann2828]

Not judging here...but I *think* this is illegal. And kinda scary.

 

[Gigi22]

Well, I live in Canada, so of course I purchase my prescriptions here--at a brick and mortar pharmacy! Not sure as to the legality of U.S. citizens purchasing prescriptions from a Canadian online pharmacy--surely the online pharmacy's website would discuss this, as well as any other issues?
A couple of months ago I read a number of articles in Canadian newspapers that claimed that the number of U.S. customers patronizing Canadian online pharmacies would lead to a shortage of prescription medications in Canada. Our customer base is a lot smaller than in the U.S. Hard to say what lobbying prompted the articles, but there are some prescription medications that are in short supply now, for whatever reasons.

 

[marcemc]

We have done this in the past, they ask you for the Doctor's info & they won't sell anything without a proper prescription, DH insurance doesn't cover but it is still a better deal than buying them here (lipitor). Our doctor said it was perfectly safe & so far we have never have a problem.

 

[roadtripper]

We did this years ago when our son needed a med that was not approved in the US. However, we had to go to Montreal Children's Hospital for the original consult, so the prescription was from a Canadian doctor. All the rest of the medication was sent through the mail. At the time (1997) it was legal to ship a 60 day supply of meds to the US with an approved prescription--even if the med was not approved in the US. I actually called and spoke to a US Customs official beforehand to be sure. I would imagine that if they accept and fill your doctor's prescription you are all set. I would check the customs rules, though-- this was pre 9/11 so things may have changed.

 

[Mixie]

I do this all the time.

There are places where no scrip is necessary.

Yes, it is illegal. Yes, customs *may* take the package and you'll be out of luck.

The drugs themselves are perfectly safe.


I understand your dilemma. Good luck.

 

[LoveBWVVBR]

I do this all the time.

There are places where no scrip is necessary.

Yes, it is illegal. Yes, customs *may* take the package and you'll be out of luck.

The drugs themselves are perfectly safe.


I understand your dilemma. Good luck.

It's illegal for sure? I don't want to go to the slammer for trying to get my daughter's inhaler for an affordable price I'm not even worried about the safety of the drugs...I'm positive that that part is fine. I wouldn't deal with a pharmacy where no script is necessary, though. THAT is scary. The one that I've been looking at requires a script. You can order more than a one month supply, but I'd be afraid to order a bunch and then be out the $$ if customs seizes the package It seems like buying prescriptions online from Canada is common practice, though, so hopefully customs isn't in the business of seizing these packages regularly

 

[LoveBWVVBR]

I work in a cardiologist office and only one of my patient's gets his prescriptions from a mail order canadian pharmacy, but he handles it all himself, so I'm not sure who he uses, most of our regular patient's use mail away pharmacies now - Medco, Right source, Caremark. I'd also call around and get prices with and without your prescription coverage. Costco, BJ's, Target and Walmart, you will find varing prices, but some much better than others.

I have shopped Costco, Target, Walmart, Publix, CVS, Walgreens, a locally owned pharmacy and some others, and $143/month is the cheapest price for my DD's Flovent. That is WITH insurance. Without, it was like $190/month for the cheapest pharmacy price. I really don't know how they expect people to be able to afford these drug prices

 

[taylorcpa]

I have ordered from two Canadian pharmacies over the past 7 years without any problems. As a matter of fact, my dad gets some of his prescriptions from one and he is reimbursed from his flexible spending account (and it's a Fortune 500 company).

 

[dwfanatic]

My sister just started doing this, as her ins with her new employer has a $2500 deductible. I didn't know it was illegal, as her doctor suggested that she do it to save money. She ordered her meds online from a Canadian website, and 2 came rather quickly, but the third took longer, and actually was sent from Germany. You can PM me if you would me like to ask her specific questions.

 

[Tumbleweed]

We've been ordering from a Canadian pharmacy for over 10
years, and never had any trouble. I can also get generics for
some medicines that don't have generics here. If it wasn't
for being able to order from Canada, we would have to do
without some medicines. There's no way (even with Part D
medicare) that we could afford all of our medicines.

 

[Mixie]

US law says that it is illegal to import drugs from Canada. However, prosecution for this doesn't happen. Usually just customs confiscate the drugs and you don't get them. Most companies that ship to the US have a disclaimer that if your package is confiscated they are not responsible for refund/replacement.

 

[Redwitch]

"Under the Prescription Drug Marketing Act of 1987, it is illegal for anyone other than the original manufacturer to bring prescription drugs into the country. However, federal officials have decided to exercise "enforcement discretion" in dealing with prescription drugs brought across the border, provided the drugs are not narcotics or other controlled substances. This means that as long as a person brings back no more than a three-month supply for personal use, border officials generally look the other way, Thomas McGinnis, director of pharmacy affairs for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel in March 2001. Patients generally may order refills in amounts up to a three-month supply without interference.

What about ordering over the Internet? Prescription drugs cannot be legally mailed into the United States by foreign "e-pharmacies." But here again officials are employing "enforcement discretion," preferring to use limited resources to crack down on large commercial drug supplies and narcotics, not prescription-drug shipments for personal consumption. Thus, customs officials allow the companies to mail up to 90-day supplies of medications.

Canadian drug retailer RXNorth.com recently told a Wall Street Journal reporter that only 1 percent of the 1,500 prescription drug orders it ships to the U.S. each day is confiscated at the border and returned to the company. The firm simply repackages the shipment and resends it. "

My mother routinely orders from Canada as a medication she desperately needs is not FDA approved for her condition. An order was recently delayed at customs (and she suffered for six weeks) but did eventually arrive; three days after the replacement order.

 

[LoveBWVVBR]

OK, so basically if I order only 3 months' worth of meds., I should be OK? I'm totally giving this a shot. 3 months of meds. from this pharmacy would be a savings of $336 for DD's Flovent alone.

 

[midas]

Make sure the pharmacy has a brick and mortar location in Canada. Alot of these internet "Canadian" pharmacies are actually in islands in the Pacific and have nothing to do with Canada. Some of these drugs are subpotent or totally counterfeit. Make sure you know who you're dealing with.

 

[LoveBWVVBR]

Make sure the pharmacy has a brick and mortar location in Canada. Alot of these internet "Canadian" pharmacies are actually in islands in the Pacific and have nothing to do with Canada. Some of these drugs are subpotent or totally counterfeit. Make sure you know who you're dealing with.

I will definitely do this. Thanks!

 

[mnrose]

I have a friend who is a nurse practitioner here in the US, and she is on a maintenance drug. She orders it from http://www.northwestpharmacy.com/.

I am considering it for one of my maintenance drugs. She has had no problems whatsoever.

 

[LoveBWVVBR]

I have a friend who is a nurse practitioner here in the US, and she is on a maintenance drug. She orders it from http://www.northwestpharmacy.com/.

I am considering it for one of my maintenance drugs. She has had no problems whatsoever.

This is actually the pharmacy that I am looking at. It seems to have the best prices since they ship for one flat rate.

Unfortunately, it doesn't look like DH's allergy meds are much cheaper from any of the Canadian pharmacies. DD's Flovent is way cheaper, though, I assume because other countries have a generic of this drug when we don't Perhaps that exerts downward pressure on the price of the brand-name in those countries. The pharmacist at CVS told me that it will be like 2 years before we see a generic of Flovent here in the US. I really can't pay $143/month for the next 2 years for only one medication UGH.

 

[j's m]

My DH is on flovent, if we buy one inhaler it's 109 with prescription insurance (50%) or 250 for 3 mail order. But our next renewal of insurance we may have to drop the prescription plan and then prescriptions fall under out of network 10,000 deductible.

I've been considering Canadian, too, for both his flovent and my advair but I've been worried about it. But thanks to all the posters, I feel a little more confident about ordering. Can their drugs be any worse than Walmart's 4.00 specials from overseas?