Need primer for getting prescriptions and buying drugs online.

June 14, 2011 9:52 PM

Lost my job and health insurance (and moved far away from my doctor anyway), would like to re-up online for getting prescriptions written and ordered. Can this be legitimately done?

The other askme's I've found don't quiiite answer my question (plus they are pretty old).

I recently moved from one part of the USA to another after being laid off. I lost my health insurance too, and I'm out of my prescriptions.

My previous doctor was good, but (perhaps to his credit) he would generally refuse to order me refills longer than 30 days without a visit.

I do understand the importance of seeing a doctor regularly, but (perhaps to my debit) right now I'd like to just be more or less rubber-stamped for the prescriptions I used to be on, and I'd really rather not spend several hours at a free/cheap clinic to get a doctor to write me new scripts if I can avoid it.

What I would really like is a legit, positively-reviewed one-stop online shop for my medicinal needs. That is, consult a doctor *online,* have him or her write the script, and then they can ship it to me. Or another online pharmacy can.

Can anyone recommend sites for accomplishing this? Previous askme's have dealt with script-free online drug sellers, but I'd be really reluctant to go that route unless multiple mefites attested to it. Previous Askmes have also recommended drugbuyers.com, but that site seems to be shuttered.

Cliff Notes: If it is possible, how/where can I get a doctor to write scripts for me online? If it matters, I am looking at getting my Valturna (or a cheaper high blood pressure medication, Valturna's really expensive) and Citalopram for depression.

I understand that YANAD and that my proposed shortcutty request is not optimal.

posted by mreleganza to health & fitness (6 answers total)

Can you call or email your previous doctor and inform him of the situation. Perhaps he can write a 3-month prescription instead of the typical 30-day Rx to cover you for a few months while you sort a lot of these things out.
posted by This_Will_Be_Good at 10:06 PM on June 14, 2011

Seconding calling your previous doctor -s/he can't prescribe for you for terribly long, depending on the class of your drugs, but should be able to get you at least one refill.

After that, whether you are male or female, Planned Parenthood does full-service health care at a reasonable cost. If you are where your profile says you are, you can probably get similar service from CareNow. Yes, you may wait an hour or two (but if you have a CareNow facility close to you, you can make an appointment online and not wait terribly long), but it shouldn't be heinous.

There isn't a technically legally feasible solution in the US for what you want. The DEA makes it basically impossible. I used to have Tele-Doc coverage, which was awesome for things like toenail fungus and the yearly sinus infection, but they couldn't even give me steroids without seeing someone in-office.
posted by Lyn Never at 10:30 PM on June 14, 2011

how/where can I get a doctor to write scripts for me online?

American Medical Association policy (H-120.949) requires doctors establish a doctor-patient relationship before prescribing medications online, including taking a medical history and performing a physical examination. I would be extremely dubious of the legitimacy of a doctor willing to prescribe over the internet to someone they had never met.
posted by RichardP at 10:53 PM on June 14, 2011

That is, consult a doctor *online,* have him or her write the script, and then they can ship it to me.

Not going to happen. It isn't possible to establish a doctor/patient relationship online, and it shouldn't be. We're talking about the care of your actual body. The internet just doesn't do that, and it never will. There's just no substitute for direct physical examination.

More to the point, if you've switched states, your old doctor won't have prescribing authority where you live now. You'll need to see someone local.
posted by valkyryn at 5:09 AM on June 15, 2011 [1 favorite]

In a bunch of states you can legally consult a nurse online, who can then prescribe any of the things nurses are allowed to prescribe (which isn't a lot)

There are online Canadian pharmacies that will send you whatever you want without a prescription (they do this by having an American doctor onsite who writes prescriptions for every order). This is legally dubious.

Both the medications you are taking sound really serious. I'd skirt the rules for allergy drugs or something, but for heart and brain drugs you really need to have a relationship with a good doctor!
posted by miyabo at 5:25 AM on June 15, 2011

I find that most doctors will give you a 90 day scrip if you tell them you are filling it via mail order instead of a pharmacy.
posted by dgeiser13 at 6:08 AM on June 15, 2011