Buying Medicine from Canada

I haven't done it myself, but, when I lived in North Dakota there was a bus that would fill with people to go into Winnepeg so that elderly people could get their meds and be able to afford them. I never heard anything bad about it at all.

When we went to Victoria about 5 years ago my husband bought some med over the counter that are prescription here and he didn't have any problems with it at all. Personally, I say go for it and see what happens. Good luck. Let us know how it turns out, I think a lot of people could use the info!

Canadian drug standards ARE higher than the US. They just also assume an intelligent populace (so many things banned here out of stupidity, cold meds and infant meds, in particular, also pain meds are legal to buy OTC.)

Furthermore, they're often made in the same factories by the same drug companies.

((It's mexican drugs to not touch with a 10' pole).

I'm 2 hours south of Canada... So I buy OTC stuff there fairly often (every baby shower!!!)

... And as long as you pay full price / aren't burdening Canada's health system it's perfectly legal to get Rx's from there as well (as long as you aren't distributing them in the US)

EX: American Price
out of pocket $1000
Insurance $100

Canadian Price
Out of pocket : $50
Health Services ; free-$10

OTC costs about the same barring exchange rates (American dollar is stronger usually)

What's ALWAYS illegal, though, is skirting customs. Which a lot of people were doing... Not declaring and paying value tax on our end, or committing fraud (pretending to be Canadian) up in Canada... Which a lot of people were also doing... Not paying into their system, but using it anyway.

I have family in Middle of Nowhere Saskatchewan ... And that's a huge complaint up there, both that Americans leech their tax dollars AND that we don't take care of our people.

I have done a lot of research on getting drugs from Canada and other countries and it is something you really need to look into. If you are driving across the border and going to a local Canadian independent pharmacy or chain and you are buying a drug from a major manufacturer in a sealed dispensed bottle (probably 100 to a bottle), then you are probably fine. Each major manufacturer produces name brands and generics and make a certain amount available for the Canadian market. Those drugs are made at production plants in Canada, the United States and at some foreign manufacturing plants that are inspected by the US FDA for import to US markets or Canadian regulatory people)
The problem is that buying from Canada has become very popular and the allocations going to Canada are not enough to supply the needs of the local population and the amount going to the US (and other countries) Also, many of the "Canada" websites are actually in 3rd world countries, so when you order over the internet, you don't know where your drugs are coming from or what conditions they are manufactured under. Just because it says Canada in the web address doesn't mean that is where the company is located. It sounds safer to buy meds from Canada that it does from Haiti doesn't it? AND THAT IS THE PROBLEM! Sometimes these drugs may be perfectly safe, other times they may have lots of filler and not enough of the active drug. Sometimes they get large quantities of expired drugs being donated to 3rd world countries and those end up back in some of those questionable mail order pharmacies In addition, not all country regulatory systems approve the same strengths of the drugs. To reduce the costs of your drugs, look on needymeds.com - they have a list of patient assistance programs for patients and also a link to drug loyalty programs which can cut your cost on co-pays. If your doctor has a pharmacy in Canada they trust and they are willing to fax your prescriptions there, then that is probably ok!

I ordered Motilium from a Canadian pharmacy when I was nursing to increase my milk supply. Domperidone is the name sold in the US, but was only available through a very expensive compounding pharmacy.
If you are hesitant, try one prescription to see if you are happy with it. If your doctor says they do it, I would think that they wouldn't lead you in the wrong direction.

I am Canadian and buy all my prescriptions here. I always thought that our drug standards were higher here than in the US.

When our insurance sucked I got my Zyrtec (before it was OTC) and my Birth Control from a Canadian Pharmacy. Never had any problems. Well, my BC got stuck in customs once and I did not get it in time, so I had to skip a month. lol

Didn't they make that illegal?
Anyhow if you can do it legally and your doctor knows a trusted pharmarcy (as in not one picked blindly online) I would go for it.