Ordering Meds from Canada?

[Dancemom03]

DH's dr suggested that he order a medication from canadadrugs.com and wrote a prescription for it.
I've never done this before and don't know anything about it but DH doesn't have prescription coverage on his health ins and we're talking hundreds a month at Walmart.

Has anybody mail ordered meds from canada before? If so, which companies do you prefer? TIA

 

[Kristmay]

I order from canadadrugs.com about every two months for two of my cat's medications. One of them costs us about $90 through canadadrugs, but if were to buy it from a pharmacy here in the states, the cost would be about $400 Thank god we have the option to purchase through canada, or our sick little kitty wouldn't have been with us as long as she has. There's no way we could have afforded the costs from the US.

We've been very happy with their service, although it takes about a 10 days to receive the prescription after we order it (though that's completely understandable since it's coming from Canada).

 

[KNJWDW]

We used canadadrugs.com last year. We had health insurance, but it had a very high deductible, including prescriptions. It was a lot cheaper for me to get my migraine meds from Canada. It was easy to do and I think I usually got my meds in a week or so. Our insurance changed this year, so we aren't doing it anymore. But, I wouldn't hesitate to do it again if needed. One thing to be aware of is that if you have an HSA, you can't count the money spent on drugs ordered from Canada as an expense.

Amy

 

[cndij]

I have been ordering my mother in laws meds from http://www.alldaychemist.com/ ever since she hit the donut hole in her part D coverage last September. It was recommended by another poster in a similar thread here. I have been very pleased and have even added one of my diabetic meds that has a high co-pay to the order. However, be aware that though this is a canadian company the meds come from India. It takes 2-2 1/2 weeks to get here, and the shipping is about $25. If I order a 3 month supply of hers and tack on mine, the shipping is very reasonable. The prices are so good, that the first of the year, my father in law had me re-order another 3 month supply because the prices are cheaper than her new part D co-pay. Just an example: Boniva, which is about $150 for 1 month (1 pill) is only about $8 from this company. My diabetic med Actos, which costs me a $50 co-pay from my insurance, is $10 for a 1 month supply. With both mine and my MIL meds, we would be able to tell right away if they were good/working for us, and they seem to be very reliable. The don't have everything, some of my FIL meds they don't carry. The things that seem to work the best with them are things that don't have a generic yet in the US, and what they are selling is a generic from India.

 

[CJMickeyMouse]

I wouldn't do it... but I am in the business.

One thing you might want to do is check with a local independent pharmacy (if there is one). You might be pleasantly surprised.

The chains try to accept ALL insurance... even those where they lose money on the prescriptions. So guess who makes up the difference? Yep.... cash paying customers.

Independents pick and choose which insurance they will accept.... this might just keep their prices down for their cash paying customers.

Good luck!

 

[disneynuts777]

I am from Canada....what is it that you can get here that you cannot get there? I am always stock piling drug supplies when I am in the states because there is so much you have there that I cannot get here!!! PM me if there is something that I might be able to help you with

 

[Cruise]

I am from Canada....what is it that you can get here that you cannot get there? I am always stock piling drug supplies when I am in the states because there is so much you have there that I cannot get here!!! PM me if there is something that I might be able to help you with

It's not a matter of availability, it's a matter of price. The exact same prescription medications bought in Canada cost a fraction of what we pay in the US.

 

[Dancemom03]

Thanks so much for all your replies.
A 90 day supply here at walmart of the one drug he wanted to switch back to is $402.46. We're in a small town. Our independant pharmacy is $16 higher while the larger pharmacies in surrounding areas all seem to be within a few dollars of the walmart price where we usually have his meds filled. Sam's Club is usually a few dollars less than walmart (which I find curious since they're both the same parent company) but I haven't been there lately to renew my membership and check on it.

To get the same drug from Canada would be between $67 - $78 and that's the name brand. They have a generic option as well, which we don't have available in the US but I figured, to compare apples with apples, I'd better use name brand prices to compare.

That's a huge price difference when there's no prescription plan to reduce the cost or pick up a portion of it. DH has heart & other health issues which would make him uninsurable in any plan but the one he currently has so there's no option to change his health ins now. I checked into it just a few months back and it's this plan or nothing so we pay OOP for meds and just make the effort to budget around it so if we could save that much on just one med it'd be terrific.

 

[tlens]

Beware, if it's truly a Canadian Pharmacy the drugs will not come from India. if they are coming from India, then you are buying from someplace other than Canada...even if they are using Canada in the name.

 

[Kidnurse]

Beware: What is one drug made by one manufacturer in another country MAY NOT be the exact same named drug made by the exact same manufacturer here in the USA.

Because of the way import/export pharmaceuticals are handled, you can't guarantee that you're getting what you think you are. You also can't be guaranteed the type of conditions in which that medication was stored.

I would HIGHLY HIGHLY recommended AGAINST getting your drugs from other countries. Their standards aren't the same as our FDA. Is it really worth the risk?

 

[pilgrimage]

I ordered from Canada for a product which was $180 per month
in US/ $40 from Canada. It said the identical product name on
the outside, but looked different on the inside. It was a generic
form, even though I'd paid for formulary. It did not work at all
for me and I could not return it after 21 days from ship date.
It did not work well at all for me. Hope it does for you.

 

[SeansMom]

Beware: What is one drug made by one manufacturer in another country MAY NOT be the exact same named drug made by the exact same manufacturer here in the USA.

Because of the way import/export pharmaceuticals are handled, you can't guarantee that you're getting what you think you are. You also can't be guaranteed the type of conditions in which that medication was stored.

I would HIGHLY HIGHLY recommended AGAINST getting your drugs from other countries. Their standards aren't the same as our FDA. Is it really worth the risk?

Just to clarify: Are you speaking of India or Canada? I would doubt there would be any problem with Canada. In fact, if you look at CanadaDrugs.com, they are carrying the exact same drugs as you see here in the US, with a few generic options which, of course, would be harder to verify if they are the same formulation. IMO, if a person stuck with brand names, they would still get a pretty big discount if they were in the OP's position, and could also trust the drugs they were getting are safe.

 

[Kidnurse]

Is there any other way the doctor could prescribe him a different drug? Just curious, what's the drug we're talking about?

 

[Kidnurse]

Just to clarify: Are you speaking of India or Canada? I would doubt there would be any problem with Canada. In fact, if you look at CanadaDrugs.com, they are carrying the exact same drugs as you see here in the US, with a few generic options which, of course, would be harder to verify if they are the same formulation. IMO, if a person stuck with brand names, they would still get a pretty big discount if they were in the OP's position, and could also trust the drugs they were getting are safe.

I am talking about any drug outside of the USA, including Canada. They might not necessarily be the "exact same" as they appear to be. The manufacturer does not have to abide by the same regulations to one country as it does to another country, therefore although the drugs could be called the same thing, list the same active ingredients etc-it may not be the same drug. The FDA is the strictest of federal drug regulations agencies when you compare nations. It often means that Americans pay more for drugs, but it also means our drugs are better protected.

For instance, I read an article some time ago in a nursing journal about an individual who had gone overseas and had either forgotten to refill his prescription before going or had just forgotten to take it with him. He had it refilled overseas-the "same" medication with the "same" name-he was hospitalized for either reaction due to the fact that it was not, in fact, the same medication. I can't recall which country it was but I'm thinking it was Spain or France. I know it was definitely in Europe.

 

[disneynuts777]

It's not a matter of availability, it's a matter of price. The exact same prescription medications bought in Canada cost a fraction of what we pay in the US.

Really.....I had no idea. I thought the prices of our drugs was horrible. Without my DH's and my insurance we would never be able to pay for our DD's asthma inhalers or the new shots that they now have avalible. (Twinrex & Guardasil)
Inhalers-400.00 a month
Twinrex- 300.00 (3 shots over 6 months)
Guardasil- 500.00 (3 shots over 6 months)

 

[Dancemom03]

The biggest budget busters for DH are Plavix and Effexor xr. We were getting effexor samples from the dr but drug reps are pushing the new latest & greatest drug now so there haven't been any samples for the past year or so. Tried paxil but it isn't as effective for him. He takes quite a few other meds but I probably wouldn't change those, at least not right now

SIL showed me her DD's acne meds the other day - even after her insurance cost they were over $400 a month and she's got two more boys in her house who'll be starting with same drug also this Spring. I told her for $1200 a month my kids would have to learn to answer to "zit-face"...

 

[barkley]

have you tried calling the manufacturer of the medication to see if they have any programs for patients who don't have pers coverage/med is'nt on the approved list for their insurance carrier? some manufacturers do and they can give you the eligibility criteria/how to get signed up (we looked into this when ds got prescribed a med that our insurance initialy did'nt list as covered, the manufacturer in that case did have a program where they sent vouchers to get the meds at a greatly reduced rate at the pharmacy-ended up not needing to do it because ds's pediatrician argued it out with the insurance company and got them to cover it).

it's worth a shot.

also see if any of your local pharmacies have their own perscription "clubs". some like the ones around here let anyone join for a once in a lifetime $5 membership fee. if you have presciption coverage it lowers what they charge for the co-pay, if you don't they give you a reduced price on the meds. we're seeing ads in our local papers right now soliciting people to join these (and it's tempting when it cut's a $10 co-pay down to $5) because apparantly with the economy people are taking the drastic measure of not re-filling scripts as often as they should it can also be somewhat of a savings to watch the chain grocery store ads and see if they are doing a promotion linked to their pharmacy-we've got 2 that are routinely running ads that a new or transferred script resuts in a $25 grocery gift card (i know people who are having their doctors write out 3 separate perscriptions for the same med's 3 month supply vs one script with 2 re-fills-then the first month they use it at whichever store is offering the gift card, then they look for the gift card deal the next month and use the other store). every little bit of savings helps.

good luck.

 

[Kidnurse]

The biggest budget busters for DH are Plavix and Effexor xr. We were getting effexor samples from the dr but drug reps are pushing the new latest & greatest drug now so there haven't been any samples for the past year or so. Tried paxil but it isn't as effective for him. He takes quite a few other meds but I probably wouldn't change those, at least not right now

SIL showed me her DD's acne meds the other day - even after her insurance cost they were over $400 a month and she's got two more boys in her house who'll be starting with same drug also this Spring. I told her for $1200 a month my kids would have to learn to answer to "zit-face"...

What about the generic formula for plavix and effexor (not necessarily XR)? How about other antidepressants other than paxil or effexor? There's a LOT more out there on the market than just the ones you listed... wellbutrin, celexa, etc etc. *LEGAL DISCLAIMER NOTE: For my license purposes I am NOT condoing any of these drugs or provided nursing education. I am simply informing someone of their rights to speak with their doctor about other possible medication alternatives-NOT giving nursing advice.

Yeah I know that the drug reps are pushing a new antidepressant out there called Pristiq, and it's so overpriced. My mother in law's doctor put her on that, but after she found out the cost, they just switched her to regular old generic effexor. It does the same trick for a whole lot less money.

I'm sorry to hear you're having a hard time. Just pricecheck all area pharmacies, even the small ones. You might find the generics cheaper than you may think.

Good luck!