Can I safely do business with a Mexican pharmacy?

January 10, 2008 7:38 AM

Should I order Aricept from a Mexican pharmacy for my senile, old mother? The doc gave her a month's worth of free samples and, for the first time in years Mom seems much better. The thing is, at $165.00 per month the stuff is very pricey. I've found it on the web in Mexico for $125.00 per month. She's on a fixed income. I've pretty much exhausted avenues for additional aid. Would the feds show up at my door? Should I risk it?
posted by anonymous to Health & Fitness (16 answers total)

$40.00 a month seems like a very small savings given the amount of risk involved for your mother.

I'd be less worried about the feds getting involved and more worried about the drugs being diluted or problematic in some other way.
posted by wfrgms at 7:41 AM on January 10, 2008 [1 favorite]

You could always try a Canadian pharmacy.
posted by GuyZero at 7:52 AM on January 10, 2008

I might be willing to try a foreign pharmacy for big savings, but $40 a month is pocket change given the potential risk. If your mom can afford $125 can you cover the difference?
posted by COD at 8:14 AM on January 10, 2008

Personally, i would find some way to cover the additional $480 per year. I wish you the best in this.
posted by Mister_A at 8:15 AM on January 10, 2008

The big concern is that you might receive counterfeits, which look exactly like they should but contain no active ingredient, or the wrong active ingredient. There's a lot of that out there in the third world.
posted by Steven C. Den Beste at 8:20 AM on January 10, 2008

Is your mom on Medicare? My grandmother's Aricept is covered by her HMO and/or Medicare (less the $3.00 deductible). It's a wonderful drug and has done a great job of slowing the onset of Alzheimers.
posted by buggzzee23 at 8:36 AM on January 10, 2008

Agreeing with others, the chances of "the Authority" bothering you are very small, but there is a risk of the drugs being flaky. I've been buying medications from http://www.inhousepharmacy.com/ for several years very happily, receiving genuine drugs (shipped from Fiji) and with zero hassles. Maybe you can research your Mexican pharmacy some more, check out others' experiences?
posted by anadem at 8:38 AM on January 10, 2008 [1 favorite]

If you're going to go offshore (and I accept that it may be a choice between going offshore and your mother not having the drugs), you can do a lot better than that. For example www.drugdelivery.ca can halve that price yet again, and that's just what came up in a quick google search.

Disclaimer: I've used offshore pharmaceuticals - albeit not from the above supplier - and have had no problems.
posted by outlier at 8:46 AM on January 10, 2008 [1 favorite]

You might try joining the Drugbuyers forum; with a $5 donation you get lots of info on discounts, ratings on pharmacies, personal experiences, etc. Plus the community is very supportive. I have used it before successfully.

Disclaimer: I have purchased antidepressants overseas once I determined that I no longer needed to pay $350/visit to my psychologist but wanted to continue seeing my therapist; I got instructions on how to taper off and did so myself without incident. You may be able to find the medication you're looking for at a deeply discounted price by joining, and figure out which pharmacies have the fastest and safest shipping methods.

Of course, you are not trying to buy anything sketchy like Oxycontin or Phentermine, so you will probably have better luck than those people trying to import things that get the attention of our government.
posted by Unicorn on the cob at 8:57 AM on January 10, 2008 [1 favorite]

Have you looked into the drug company's patient assistance program?
posted by acridrabbit at 9:17 AM on January 10, 2008

I'd be very skeptical of a dramatic change in your mother having any relationship to a month of Aricept at all. Dementia sufferers can often have good weeks and bad weeks regardless of these medications, which generally take longer to have an effect and have subtle effects at best.

I say this because whether you're considering $165 or $125 or not renewing the medicine at all, you should have realistic expectations about these drugs and the prognosis of advanced dementia. If your mother's doctor doesn't have a fair bit of expertise on the use of Aricept, I'd consider seeing a geriatrician for a second opinion.

That all said, at this point I don't think you need to worry about the feds busting down your door. Just make sure if you are getting medications from outside the US, that they are from a reliable source. See the recommendations above.
posted by drpynchon at 9:22 AM on January 10, 2008

i don't know what your mom's dosage is, but canadapharmacy has it for as low as $99. i've had good experiences with them.
posted by misanthropicsarah at 9:27 AM on January 10, 2008 [1 favorite]

I get drugs from Mexico and have never had any issues, in fact I even physically go there to get my crazy dental work done.
posted by yodelingisfun at 9:50 AM on January 10, 2008

Ditto wfgrams- a savings of $40 a month is paltry when your mother's health is at stake. That said, my uncle goes across the border to TJ a few times a year to buy meds and has never (seemed to) suffer any ill effects.
posted by arnicae at 11:51 AM on January 10, 2008

I think you should go ahead and get the meds from Mexico. I have consumed "third world meds" for many years and have had no problems whatsoever. Why let American pharma companies make you pay more for the same drug?
posted by peacheater at 5:59 PM on January 10, 2008

Have you exhausted EVERY option? Like patient assistance programs (see: http://www.pparx.org ) or local medication assistance through charities, etc.? Did you check with the doctor to see if he/she knows of any programs? Does she have health insurance? Medicare? Medicare rx coverage and/or a Medicare supplement?

It may be safe but it may not and it doesn't seem like the savings are good enough to make it worth it.
posted by fructose at 3:11 PM on January 11, 2008