So, Canadian pharmacy, we meet at last?

May 11, 2023 11:04 AM

Short form: For years I've used a prescription drug (not a controlled substance) which was recently discontinued by its manufacturer. There is no substitute. Local compounding pharmacies tell me they can't get the active ingredient to make up the medication for me. But I really don't want to stop using it. There is no generic available in the U.S.; however, there are foreign generics. How do I do this?

I guess this is a good old-fashioned ELI5. In particular, since the foreign pharmacy will need a prescription, how do I get my doctor to give them one? It doesn't seem possible under my health system's current setup to just transfer it electronically. Will my doctor be willing to send a prescription to a non-U.S. pharmacy for a random foreign generic?

Bonus points for any recent recommendations for Canadian pharmacies who will do mail-order to the U.S.

posted by praemunire to Health & Fitness (11 answers total)

The one time I did this, a bit before the pandemic, I got a paper prescription from my doctor and then scanned and emailed it to the Canadian pharmacy. That was a few years ago, and for a very much not-controlled medication, so things might be different in your situation.
posted by Dip Flash at 11:39 AM on May 11, 2023 [1 favorite]

Best answer: I have used CanadaMedPharmacy. They were fairly easy to work with. My first rx made it to the US and was detained in LA, then returned by by feds. On the second attempt, I received the rx without issue.
posted by jennstra at 11:45 AM on May 11, 2023

If you will be in Europe anytime, it can be surprisingly cheap to see a doctor to get a prescription, as long as you can convince them that you need it.
posted by melamakarona at 12:13 PM on May 11, 2023

Not a Canadian pharmacy, but have you checked with Amazon Pharmacy? A couple of friends have reported availability for meds they were having a lot of trouble getting filled in the US. We got a prescription for Sudafed, just to get around the stupid meth law. $2 for 100 pills, delivered to my door by the Amazon driver. Our doctor just sent the Rx straight to Amazon Pharmacy, and it was there and available when I logged in.
posted by xedrik at 12:53 PM on May 11, 2023 [3 favorites]

Best answer: so some non-us international pharmacies only "require" a prescription. you just order what you want and it comes a few weeks later. i have ordered birth control, asthma meds for my cat, and retin-a all with out a prescription submitted.

generally you cannot pay with a credit card due to rules of some kind that i don't understand. depending on the pharmacy you can pay with zelle, or call them with your banking info, or snail mail a us address a check. it all seems scary, but i've never been scammed in the decade+ i've been using international pharmacies.

the last two i used were inhousepharmacy.vu and alldaychemist.com and both were fine. the others i used a long time ago, so don't want to recommend them in case they've gotten shady.
posted by misanthropicsarah at 12:59 PM on May 11, 2023 [6 favorites]

Most Canadian pharmacies require a prescription from a Canadian doctor, mainly to stop the US siphoning off our subsidized drug supply.
posted by scruss at 1:02 PM on May 11, 2023

Response by poster: mainly to stop the US siphoning off our subsidized drug supply

I don't think this drug is subsidized--it's to treat an allegedly cosmetic symptom of a disorder, but since it's "cosmetic" U.S. insurance rarely covered it at all, and my understanding is that it's hard to get it covered under most national health plans.
posted by praemunire at 1:24 PM on May 11, 2023

Most Canadian pharmacies require a prescription from a Canadian doctor because that's the law in Canada. People get around this because there are some Canadian doctors willing to do the prescription mill thing where they'll co-sign a foreign prescription for a fee. It's kind of sketchy, but you're not going to be able to avoid sketchy if you want to do this.
posted by heatherlogan at 2:34 PM on May 11, 2023

Best answer: I have used alldaychemist.com for many years without a moment of trouble. They "require" an Rx, but I've never provided one and everything has been fine.
posted by Dolley at 4:47 PM on May 11, 2023 [2 favorites]

Best answer: Pharmaserve and Matt's Marine Pharmacy are two examples of online Canadian pharmacies (that happen to also have brick and mortar locations) that work like this: As part of the online ordering process, you upload a scanned copy of your prescription from your doctor. After you pay and submit your order, behind the scenes on their side, a Canadian physician signs off on the prescription, and they send you your order. They offer cold packs and expedited shipping for meds requiring refrigeration. They both have phone support if you have any questions.
posted by ImproviseOrDie at 5:23 AM on May 12, 2023 [1 favorite]

It's not that Canada subsidizes the drugs we buy here, it's that we are proportionally a very small country, so it is easy for us to become totally sold out. Texas and California both have larger populations than our entire country which is less than 38 million people.

The Patented Medicine Prices Review Board ensures the price of patented medicine sold in Canada is “not excessive” and remains “comparable with prices in other countries.” They don't let the drug companies put a big mark-up on them. In the US however, the drug companies can get a monopoly and raise prices as much as they like. This means that there are many drugs that you can't get in Canada because the manufacturers aren't interested in producing for the Canadian market when they can optimize their profits by only manufacturing and selling in the States.

Recently the manufacturers have been gouging US buyers on the price of insulin. They make insulin really cheaply but charge absurdly high prices. So many Americans have been buying insulin in Canada that the pharmacies keep running out and people here have had to really scramble to get it.
posted by Jane the Brown at 6:14 PM on May 12, 2023