Educated/medicated

June 28, 2009 6:28 AM

Studying abroad, on meds.

Assume that Guy wants to pursue a graduate degree in the USA. Assume also that he’s on antidepressants. Will he be allowed to take his meds from his home country with him to the US? Will he be able to carry 3-6 months worth of meds every time he goes back to the US (5 to 9 packets)? Will he be able to get emergency supplies from his family through DHL or a similar service?

Guy is from somewhere in Asia. The AD in question is Remeron.

posted by howiamdifferent to travel & transportation (8 comments total)

Remeron is not a scheduled medication. As long as he has a prescription with him (copy if necessary) there should be no problem.
posted by Brennus at 7:47 AM on June 28

If you do decide to try and get meds by mail, you'll want to read this AMF post.
posted by tigrrrlily at 8:21 AM on June 28

It would be pretty easy to get ADs from student health. As a student, most universities require some sort of health insurance and if you don't have it, you can do the university health insurance.

As soon as you start your program, make a student health appointment. Try to bring your paperwork from home. Bring 2 months worth of your existing meds.

Should be easy.
posted by k8t at 9:23 AM on June 28

Most universities require health insurance for all full-time students, and most will provide health insurance of some variety to graduate students unless students choose to waive their right to it and have proof of other valid-in-the-US insurance. (This is particularly the case for PhD programs.) Assuming this is the case, the guy in your question should be able to pick up meds in the US via American insurance without any difficulties. Ask the graduate program for details about how insurance works for (foreign) grad students, and then make an appointment with student health once on campus.

It is possible to bring meds into the country (though they should be in labeled bottles/packets, and bringing a copy of the prescription is a good idea.) I've taken 3 months' supply both into and out of the US with no problem. 6 months may be more difficult; in the US and many other Western nations, it's rare to be able to get 6 months of a daily med at once. Even if it's not prohibited, he might be hassled by TSA or immigration people if they notice it.

One last note: Given that we're talking about anti-depressants and grad school, bringing meds back from one's home country isn't really an ideal solution. Grad school is tough on everyone and can be particularly rough on those who struggle with depression, and not being able to adjust meds or get immediate health care (and therapy, etc.) isn't good when you're in a stressful situation. If the guy in question was doing this only to save money (but had healthcare in the US), that obviously wouldn't be a problem, but since the question mentions emergency supplies, it's not clear that that's the case...
posted by ubersturm at 10:35 AM on June 28

If you're a foreign student, you will be required to have sufficient student health insurance. Usually this means you cannot waive the offered student health insurance - you must go on the offered health insurance (i.e. you cannot just get catastrophic coverage or a lesser plan). So you'll easily be able to meet with a US doc and continue your meds there. Otherwise, with a valid prescription and YOUR name on the meds, it won't be a big deal to travel into the country with some number of packets of your meds.
posted by barnone at 11:20 AM on June 28

As long as it isn't a controlled substance-- and it isn't-- and you have proper passport/visa (in other words, you are legal to be here for however many months you will be) no one will care. You can mail them-- again, no one will care.

They're looking for opiates and methamphetamine-- not antidepressants.
posted by Maias at 1:48 PM on June 28

I brought 9 months worth of anti-depressants into the US in February. I had it in original packets, with a prescription and a letter from the prescribing doctor, but Customs didn't even look at it.
posted by jacalata at 1:53 PM on June 28

I agree with k8t. This is a pretty common medication, so he should carry some meds with him but get in ASAP with an American doctor. He can also contact student health ahead of time to preplan and see how this might work. Even if he can't do anything until he gets there, he can figure out exactly what he needs to bring and what to do/when to go before he leaves his home country.
posted by Madamina at 8:49 PM on June 28