Part of a CtWatchdog series on the high cost of drugs and medicine in the United States
It’s not widely known, but millions of Americans are importing Canadian drugs, in many cases saving a fortune.
All these pharmacies require is a written prescription from your doctor, limited to 100 days supply at a time.
Americans purchase their medicine through U.S companies that serve as middlemen like Canada Med Services, based in Sarasota, Florida, the company I use.
Or purchase directly from Canadian companies like Canada Drugs Online or The Canadian Pharmacy.
But before you buy Canadian drugs you need to do some comparison shopping, not only through American outlets but also through Canadian pharmacies. There can be huge differences in what different Canadian pharmacy companies charge for the same medication – especially between Canadian subsidiaries operating in the US and the ones operating in Canada.
There is also a internet site that compares the cost of medication from the U.S. and other countries that provide the same drugs – the difference in prices can be huge. PharmacyChecker.com.
You also need to determine how much your insurance will pay for the medication, and your out-of-pocket costs, if purchased in the U.S. Canadian companies do not accept insurance.
You should also check drug prices through American drug internet sites like GoodRx, which in many cases sell drugs at lower prices than your local pharmacy or your deductible.
Canadian pharmacies don’t accept American health insurance plans. Drugs purchased through Canada or through American internet sites do not count toward your deductible.
Is It Legal For Americans To Purchase Canadian Drugs?
The federal government does not permit states to purchase drugs from Canada, despite many of them clamoring for it to save money on their medical programs.
But its position on individuals making their own purchases is less clear. I have yet to see a story on the internet of any Canadian company sanctioned for selling to Americans or of an American being prosecuted for purchasing drugs for their own use. However, there have been a few cases where drugs drugs were seized before they could be delivered.
“Since 2003, the FDA has not stopped retail stores in Florida from helping consumers buy drugs from abroad. Nine storefronts were raided by FDA officials in 2017, although the FDA has allowed them to continue operating,” according to a story last year in Kaiser Health News.
Savvy Americans have been doing it for more than 17 years.
The Canadian pharmacies and their U.S. partners keep a low profile. But on some of their websites they make it clear that they are there to serve Americans:
“Many Americans require prescription medications to manage serious health conditions and improve their quality of life. Unfortunately, these same life-saving medications can be costly. It doesn’t have to be that way. The Canadian Pharmacy staff believe safe, accessible health care should be available to everyone.”
And Canada Pharmacy on its Website says “So, can you fill US prescriptions in Canada? You certainly can.”
WebMD says the practice has been going on for some time.
“For decades, Americans have been buying drugs from Canada for personal use — either by driving over the border, ordering medication on the internet or using storefronts that connect them to foreign pharmacies. Though the practice is illegal, the FDA has generally permitted purchases for individual use.”
FDA’s Policy On Individuals Purchasing Canadian Drugs Is Unclear
Questions about buying from Canada are addressed by the FDA on its internet site under the headline: Is it legal for me to personally import drugs?
This is its first sentence says: “In most circumstances, it is illegal for individuals to import drugs into the United States for personal use.”
That seems pretty clear cut, the FDA is implying you can’t legally buy drugs from Canada.
But then it goes on to indicate that it applies only to NON-FDA approved medication:
“This is because drugs from other countries that are available for purchase by individuals often have not been approved by FDA for use and sale in the United States.”
“FDA cannot ensure the safety and effectiveness of drugs that it has not approved.”
And if you read further, it even says that under some circumstances non-FDA approved drugs can be purchased if:
The drug is for use for a serious condition for which effective treatment is not available in the United States;
There is no commercialization or promotion of the drug to U.S. residents;
The drug is considered not to represent an unreasonable risk;
The individual importing the drug verifies in writing that it is for his or her own use, and provides contact information for the doctor providing treatment or shows the product is for the continuation of treatment begun in a foreign country; and
Generally, not more than a 3-month supply of the drug is imported
The FDA has not responded to two emails I sent over the last few weeks asking for responses about the purchases, including if its legal, and if the U.S. government ever prosecuted anyone for these purchases. Federal authorities did pressure Canada to shut down one on-line pharmacy that sold phony medication.
Most Find Out By Word Of Mouth
I first discovered this huge money saver when I was working as a tax preparer at H&R Block several years ago when I took a hiatus from CtWatchdog.
One of my clients, a mother, told me about her seriously ill son whose medication cost a fortune, even with insurance.
That was until she discovered a company that provided her access to Canadian medication. It made a huge difference. I quickly followed her example.
In my case, there is only one expensive medication I take, and that is Latuda.
The main reason that Latuda is tremendously cheaper through Canadian pharmacies is because the generic brand is sold there but not here.
The FDA approved the generic form of Latuda – Lurasidone Hydrochloride -two years ago but it won’t be available in America until at least 2023. The generic version of Latuda is readily available in other countries such as Canada, New Zealand and India.
Part of the reason was answered by the Wall Street Journal in an excellent article two years ago about why some generic drugs approved by the FDA are not available here.
“Generic copies of Latuda won’t go on sale until 2023 under the terms of a deal between the makers of the generics and Latuda’s manufacturer, Sunovion Pharmaceuticals Inc., the U.S. subsidiary of Sumitomo Dainippon Pharma Co. of Japan.
“The companies reached the deal after Sunovion sued for patent infringement,” The WSJ reported.
That does not answer the question of why the generic version is available at least in India, New Zealand and Canada, places from where I have received it through the Canadian linked company.
GoodRX lists Latuda at about $4,800 for a 90-day supply for 80 mg tablets. I split my tablets and only use 20 mg daily, so a 90 day supply lasts me all year.
Instead of paying the full price for name brand Latuda, I pay $296 for 100 pills of the generic version, including shipping. In my research for this story I discovered I could get it for $100 less by buying directly from a firm in Canada. Even the name brand costs a fraction through Canadian firms, but there is no reason to buy the brand name drug.
Even Some Doctors Don’t Know
My psychiatrist, thinking I needed a new prescription for Latuda, recently sent one for 20 mg for a 30-day supply, to the local grocery pharmacy.
The pharmacy technician called me to alert me that even with my Medicare Part D plan, the cost would be $800 – $3,200 a year. I of course turned down the prescription.
I told my psychiatrist about it and he took down the name of the company so he could tell his other patients. He had never heard of being able to purchase medicine from Canada – neither did my previous psychiatrist in Massachusetts.
Just like in the U.S., there have have issues with Canadian companies, including one that sold to Americans.
Canada Drugs was shut down three years ago after U.S. officials complained the company with selling illegally imported drugs, including two that were counterfeit versions of the cancer drugs Avastin and Altuzan that had no active ingredients, wrote Associated Press.
“U.S. prosecutors say Canada Drugs’ business model is based entirely on illegally importing unapproved and misbranded drugs not just from Canada, but from all over the world. The company has made at least $78 million through illegal imports,” wrote the author.
Compare that one case with all the tainted drugs we get from other countries, especially from China. The FDA is supposed to inspect pharmaceutical facilities here and from places like China that supply us with most of our medicine. But they can’t inspect them all.
An investigation by the Kaiser Health News found that “in the past decade more than 2,500 facilities, both foreign and domestic, have gone more than five years without an FDA drug-quality inspection.
“The FDA has no drug-quality inspection records over the past decade for more than 1,200 domestic plants and nearly 400 foreign plants, excluding those that make animal drug products, according to the analysis.”
Canada Med Services, based in Sarasota, Florida is rated By the Better Business Bureau as A+ with no complaints.
The BBB has no rating for Canada Drugs Online and has no listed complaints. The Canadian Pharmacy has an A+ rating from the BBB with no complaints. It has been in business for 18 years, according to the BBB.
Canada Pharmacy’s explanation For Our High Costs
So what do Canadian drug companies say is the reason Americans are paying much more than anywhere else in the industrialized world?
The biggest part of the reason why drugs are so expensive in the USA is monopoly pricing on medication, and it’s helpful to know that no other 1st world country has a completely unregulated system for pricing pharmaceuticals like America does. After five (5) years, drug patents expire and people can produce generic equivalents of a drug, but until that happens big pharma manufacturer companies are free to set drug prices at whatever they like.
That’s the long and short of why medication is so expensive in America, and even the generic drugs are more expensive too. We should mention as well that a lesser factor is how middlemen buyers representing healthcare insurance providers don’t negotiate with manufacturers effectively to bring prices down.
And the reason for that is – quite simply – it would means less for them. The for-profit nature of the pharmaceutical industry in America is what it is, and that’s why people are considering Canadian pharmacies that fill US prescriptions.
A complete list of online Canadian drug companies that meet the safety and privacy standards of the Canadian International Pharmacy Association can be found here.
