Brand name prescription drugs are known to be a lot cheaper in Canada. Since this country is so close to the United States, most people are tempted to buy their prescription drugs there to save a lot of money.
However, before you consider buying prescription drugs in Canada, there are some things that you should know about . . .
Why Drugs are Cheaper in Canada
Many foreign countries, including Canada, control the pricing of drugs. Due to the fact that they have national and universal healthcare, they are often able to negotiate the prices, keeping them very low compared to the United States. Since the United States doesn’t have any pricing control, the prices will be all over the place.
However, there are a few things that you’re going to want to keep in mind before you start thinking about how to purchase prescription drugs in Canada:
A. Generic Drugs
For starters, generic drugs are often going to be cheaper in the United States when you factor in foreign shipping.
B. Converting
Don’t forget that when you receive a price quote, it’s going to be in Canadian dollars. Depending on the current market, you will want to convert your dollar to see how much it’s going to cost you. Also, if the pharmacy charges shipping, be sure to factor this into your budget.
How to Buy Prescription Drugs in Canada Safely
There are two common ways to purchase your prescription drugs in Canada :
A. Buying in Person
As long as you stick to the FDA’s and U.S. Customs’ parameters, you should be able to buy prescription drugs when you cross the border. When you cross the border, make sure that you bring a few extra prescription copies with you because most pharmacies and the United States border will ask for one.
B. Online
If you’re interested in buying prescription drugs in Canada or any other foreign country, you have to be aware of potential problems, including changing prices, additional fees and shady practices. When buying from any licensed online Canadian pharmacy, you’re going to want to make sure that they meet the following guidelines and are properly verified third-party websites.
Having third-party verifications adds to the legitimacy of online sites, and there are several agencies in the U.S. and Canada that offer seals of approval. These include the Better Business Bureau Online (BBBOnline), the Canadian International Pharmacy Association (CIPA), Verified Internet Pharmacy Practice Sites (VIPPS), the (NCPA) and the Manitoba International Pharmacists Association (MIPA). Contact information is available on the Pharmacy Licensing page on this site.
Now that you know what to look out for, here’s how to buy prescription drugs in Canada safely . . .
- After visiting your primary-care doctor, make sure that you get a valid prescription. Any valid pharmacy online or in person will always ask for a prescription. If they don’t, you may want to second guess your purchase.
- If you plan on filling your prescription online, use a valid drug search online to compare and find a reputable pharmacy. For example, eDrugSearch.com allows you to freely search for a drug and easily compare prices from properly licensed Canadian pharmacies.
- When you find a pharmacy that meets the criteria mentioned above, you will be able to place your order through the pharmacy. Most of the time, be prepared to scan over your prescription to properly fill it. On top of this, other pharmacies may ask for additional documentation depending on your order size.
- If you’re going to place your order in person, be prepared to either pay with Canadian dollars or by credit card. Most credit cards are going to be able to automatically transfer your foreign currency.
If you’re searching for “how to buy prescription drugs in Canada,” then there’s a good chance you’re looking to save money. eDrugSearch.com is a free cost-comparison search engine that helps uninsured and under-insured consumers get safe access to affordable medications. By using their service, you’re going to be able to save a lot of time with research and see up to 80 percent off U.S. retail drug prices.
About this Angie’s List Expert: Cary Byrd is the president and founder of eDrugSearch.com. Based in San Antonio, eDrugSearch.com is a free cost comparison engine that helps consumers get safe access to affordable medications and advocates licensed online pharmacies as a widely accepted alternative.
Every year, misprescribing drugs wastes tens of billions of dollars. These drugs are barely affordable to the people who must pay for their prescriptions out of their own pocket. However, the more serious consequence is that a minimum of 1.5 million people are hospitalized every year due to complications caused by medications that should never have been prescribed to them. Misprescribing drugs is also the cause of roughly 100,000 deaths every year.
The following is the seven most common “deadly dangers” of misprescribing prescription drugs:
- The original disease that a drug is prescribed for is really an adverse reaction to a different drug, masquerading as a disease. However, it is not recognized by the patient or the doctor. Instead of replacing the offending drug with a safer one or lowering the dose, the doctor adds an additional drug to help treat the adverse reaction caused by the original drug. Some examples of illnesses where misprescribing drugs in this manner is common include constipation, psychoes, insomnia, sexual dysfunction and depression.
- A problem that should first be treated using common sense lifestyle changes, is instead treated with a drug. Issues such as abdominal pain and insomnia regularly have causes that can be effectively treated without drugs. A careful history taken by the doctor can often discover these causes, avoiding the possibility of misprescribing drugs. Situational depression, anxiety, obesity, mild adult-onset diabetes and high blood pressure are other examples. The first approach a physician should recommend is a lifestyle change, instead of immediately writing a prescription.
- The medical problem is self-limited. It also does not respond to antibiotic treatments or does not need to be treated with certain drugs. This usually occurs with viral infections such as bronchitis or colds in adults or children that are otherwise healthy. Misprescribing drugs to healthy people happens more often that many people think.
- The medical problem would be best treated by a drug. However, instead of using the treatment that is cheapest, most effective and safest, the doctor prescribes an alternative that is less preferable. An example of this would be a doctor prescribing a drug to a patient that he or she is allergic to, but the doctor did not inquire about. Misprescribing drugs in this manner is frequently caused by not having proper records from a patient’s previous doctor. This is why a patient should make sure a doctor does a complete history when seeing a doctor for the first time.
- When used separately, two drugs may be perfectly safe. However, if they are taken together, misprescribing drugs in this case may result in serious illness or death.
- If two or more drugs are used for the treatment of an illness, one or more of the drugs may not be helping with the treatment. Misprescribing drugs may be causing an increased risk to the patient. Occasionally, these drugs can be combined into one pill. Other times, they will be separate pills. Mind-affecting drugs and heart drugs are often prescribed in this way.
- A prescription of the correct medication is given. However, misprescribing drugs has caused the dose to be too high. Older adults most often experience this problem. This is because they are not able to excrete or metabolize medication as fast as young people. Small people also have this problem when they are prescribed the same amount as a person weighing twice the amount that they do.
About this Angie’s List Expert: Cary Byrd is the president and founder of eDrugSearch.com. Based in San Antonio, eDrugSearch.com is a free cost comparison engine that helps consumers get safe access to affordable medications and advocates licensed online pharmacies as a widely accepted alternative.
While many consumers are interested in online pharmacies and how to safely buy prescription drugs online as a means of saving money, they are often concerned about whether they can trust the quality and safety of online medication.
eDrugSearch.com is the leading prescription drug guide for those who seek to safely buy prescription drugs online from licensed U.S. and Canadian pharmacies.
Go to eDrugSearch.com and compare prices today – it’s safe, easy and 100% FREE!
Or you can use our FREE directory to find a safe and licensed Canadian pharmacy online.
Reports have surfaced that pop superstar Michael Jackson was spending as much as $48,000 per month on prescription drugs, including Demerol and Diprivan.
A sidelight of this story is the pharmacy that news reports say filled and delivered many of those orders: Mickey Fine Pharmacy & Grill in Beverly Hills.
Mickey Fine is a pretty snazzy-looking place. It was originally one of those legendary Schwab Pharmacies where starlets were discovered while drinking milkshakes. As recently as March, it was a featured location in the Starz comedy series “Head Case.”
It’s not the kind of place you would normally associate with supplying a prescription drug habit.
Let me be clear: there is absolutely no evidence that Mickey Fine has done anything wrong here. But I hope its involvement in the Michael Jackson case will help us to think twice about preconceptions and stereotypes when it comes to prescription drug abuse.
Opponents of American citizens buying drugs from Canada have worked hard to associate online and mail-order pharmacies with the increase in prescription drug abuse — although there is absolutely not one shred of statistical evidence to support this claim.
The fact is, while it’s certainly possible to use online pharmacies to feed a drug habit, it’s just as easy to borrow medications from friends, sneak them out of your parents’ medicine cabinet — or to get prescriptions from multiple doctors and fill them at a place like Mickey Fine.
Today is the day! The eDrugSearch.com beta period has begun.
If you are a healthcare professional, consumer advocate or member of the media and are interested in participating in our beta, you can simply go to our registration page and get started. We encourage you to contact us to let us know that you’ve signed on, and to give us your feedback on the site before our official launch in January.
We’ve decided to open the site so anyone can sign up, but we don’t plan to market ourselves outside the designated beta groups until launch. We’ll keep you updated on the beta program’s progress through this blog.
eDrugSearch.com is a consumer healthcare portal that brings together the world’s most highly respected online pharmacies through a free, easy-to-use search engine. The site’s database currently includes more than 20,000 drug listings, with plans to grow to more than 100,000 listings by January 2007 — making it by far the most comprehensive resource of its kind. eDrugSearch.com advocates licensed online pharmacies as a safe and widely accepted alternative for those seeking the cost benefits, enhanced privacy, relative convenience, and increased access to generic drugs made possible by ordering prescription drugs online.
In addition to updating you on our site’s progress, eDrugSearch.com will use this blog to help consumers make better decisions in purchasing prescription medications — decisions that are in their best interests, rather than the best interests of big pharmaceutical companies. We believe the time for offering consumers more options, such as purchasing drugs from licensed Canadian pharmacies, is long overdue.
According to a recent Wall Street Journal Online/Harris Interactive Healthcare Poll, four out of five U.S. adults favor allowing the importation of prescription drugs from Canada and other countries. A vast majority (84 percent) of the public agrees that the law banning pharmaceutical imports is intended to protect drug companies’ profits. Many of the nation’s leading politicians and consumer advocates agree with this assessment, and have been working for years to legalize drug imports.
Currently, while importing prescription medications from Canada remains illegal, the Bush Administration has decided against enforcing this law because of strong public opposition to it. We believe it is only a matter of time before the will of the nation’s consumers is officially sanctioned by the U.S. government.
In the meantime, we offer eDrugSearch.com as the most comprehensive, trustworthy resource for consumers seeking safe, low-cost drugs online. We will continue to advocate the right of consumers to affordable prescription medications.
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