Can I fill my written US prescriptions in person at a local Canadian pharmacy??

December 22, 2009 2:56 PM

I'm going to be in Canada next week. I was wondering if I could go into a local pharmacy with my written US prescriptions (non-controlled substances) and have them filled at Canada prices. Does anyone know? Pittfalls? (I'll be in Sherbrooke, if anyone ha recommendations.)
posted by soulbarn to Health & Fitness (4 answers total)

I tried that very thing, and was told that they can't fill prescriptions unless they're written by a Canada-licensed physician. You may have a friend of a friend who knows a Canadian doctor, who can just take your US prescription and turn around and write one him/herself, which you can then use at any pharmacy in Canada.

(Disclaimer: I do not know about the legality of the above. I just know it's one way to accomplish your goal.)
posted by CommonSense at 3:27 PM on December 22, 2009

It needs at least the co-signature of a Canadian doctor.
posted by scruss at 3:28 PM on December 22, 2009

My understanding is that Canadian physicians can write useable-in-the-US prescriptions if they have a DEA number, and a surprising number of them seem to. I wonder if there's a similar deal in the opposite direction? Might be worth calling the prescribing physician and asking if he's licensed to prescribe in Canada, or if he could refer you to an American doctor who is?

Though there is an unsourced "He says that recent rule changes allow Canadian pharmacists to fill prescriptions written by physicians in various out-of-province jurisdictions, including the U.S." here. Perhaps worth a call to a Sherbrooke drugstore?
posted by kmennie at 5:25 PM on December 22, 2009

I live in Sherbrooke; if you don't speak French, your odds-on best bet for getting through a tricky-to-explain situation in a pharmacy is to go to Lennoxville, the English-speaking borough in Sherbrooke. There are two, a Familiprix and a Brunet; I've never been to the Familiprix, but the Brunet (Valérie Courschesne, at 147 Rue Queen) has been around for decades and decades serving a bilingual clientele, and can probably serve you in English.

[phone]‎ is their phone number if you want to ask in advance.
posted by Shepherd at 6:18 AM on December 23, 2009