What is the legal status of having prescriptions filled in Canada and sent to the U.S.?
January 11, 2010 10:04 AM Subscribe
YANML, of course, but what is the current legal status of importing legal prescription drugs to the U.S. from legitimate Canadian pharmacies?
My Googling and searching previous AskMe questions is turning up a lot of conflicting and outdated information on the subject. It's my understanding that after a Customs crackdown ended several years ago, Customs and the FDA are largely turning a blind eye to the practice, but that it remains illegal. Is this correct as of 2010?
My question isn't purely academic, unfortunately: even with prescription insurance, I'm not able to afford the medications my doctors would prefer to prescribe. I'm not interested in getting my prescriptions illegally, however, even if the law isn't currently being enforced.
My Googling and searching previous AskMe questions is turning up a lot of conflicting and outdated information on the subject. It's my understanding that after a Customs crackdown ended several years ago, Customs and the FDA are largely turning a blind eye to the practice, but that it remains illegal. Is this correct as of 2010?
My question isn't purely academic, unfortunately: even with prescription insurance, I'm not able to afford the medications my doctors would prefer to prescribe. I'm not interested in getting my prescriptions illegally, however, even if the law isn't currently being enforced.
Response by poster: Succinct! Thanks, caddis. For anyone else who is interested in this subject, I'll note that caddis's link provides a link to what is apparently the official FDA interpretation of the current statutes.
posted by jingzuo at 2:31 PM on January 11, 2010
posted by jingzuo at 2:31 PM on January 11, 2010
I don't know how much it matters, but the link Caddis provided is several years old: It refers to "Secretary of Health and Human Services Tommy Thompson", which he hasn't been for nearly five years now.
Not that the current secretary is necessarily any more interested in stopping you from buying legitimate drugs from legitimate pharmacies than the last two or three were, but that article doesn't say.
posted by FlyingMonkey at 10:39 AM on January 12, 2010
Not that the current secretary is necessarily any more interested in stopping you from buying legitimate drugs from legitimate pharmacies than the last two or three were, but that article doesn't say.
posted by FlyingMonkey at 10:39 AM on January 12, 2010
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posted by caddis at 12:18 PM on January 11, 2010 [2 favorites]