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My husband & I both take niacin & it keeps our cholesterol at ~200
Please cite where niacin in sane (250-500mg) doses can cause liver damage. Too much of anything will kill you, even water.
Good Luck, I am sure you will have no problems.
I can understand it if those drugs are NOT what your doctor would otherwise prescribe for you. But if they are, then by all means don't feel weird about it.
I now have medicare and a prescription plan.
The problem with Canadian drugs is the long time from ordering to receiving.....as much as a Month. It was a hassle, you are dealing with a different "culture" almost in a pharmacy. But it was a life saver at the time.
If you're just going to throw money away, can I have it?
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081205/ap_on_go_pr...
Uh, why didn't he tell the American people these things BEFORE the war? JAIL FOR THEM ALL!
not sure about canada. have gone across the border to mexico for rx's and had absolutely no problem
http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/ahc-asc/media/advisories...
May attention to this part:
In order to minimize the risk of purchasing counterfeit drugs, consumers who choose to purchase their medication via the Internet should not do business with any Web site or company that:
refuses to give a street address, telephone number or way of contacting a pharmacist;
offers prescription drugs without a prescription;
offers to issue a prescription based on answers to an online questionnaire;
claims to have a "miracle cure" for any serious condition; or
sells products that are not approved for sale in Canada.
sells products that are being provided directly to consumers from foreign sources
Also please call this number and ask....
1-800-267-9675 they track counterfit drugs and may have more info for you.
I've been forced to rely on online "no prescription" pharmacies, and antibiotics from Tijuana: so far so good. I know that my presicriptions came from India at one point.
Luckily, I found one doctor who would see me once a year for $95, and write me a prescription renewable for that year, for a drug I've taken for 15 years.
The drug companies are just more important than the patients in the U.S. and they get to stick it to Americans and the U.S. health care system, such as it is.
Just another thought - we now can order the 90 day supply on our Health Ins and pay for a 60 day supply. This is done by mailing the prescription to the company used by them and they auto-refill every 80 days for us. We save $50 on a $150 3 month prescription. I also have used and ordered meds from a Canadian pharmacy and it did come as advertised with all the appropriate labeling.
As you know, hubs is a doc....we have NEVER used or obtained samples for us or our family.
You can tell from what you get with packaging and insert if the meds are made in Canada.
I would NEVER go the niacin route ... it is extremely dangerous and people who recommend it could very well be recommending a regimen that is risking YOUR life. Liver damage is not something to play with - and recommending a patient go off of a prescribed medication without medical consultation is beyond reckless.
Meds from Canada are generally viewed as safe by physicians. As long as you do your research and are careful and speak with someone knowledgable....you should be fine. Canada is NOT a third world country - but in many ways, I view our health care pharma industry as a way to balance the research budgets. That's all it is - we pay more here because the pharma companies lobby for it.
The same pharma companies operate in Canada and Mexico - packaging is the same ... labeling is the same. It's just the cost that isn't.
My father in law is a diabetic, and prior to the new medicare drug coverage that took place a couple of years ago here in the states, he ordered all of his diabetes drugs from Canada. They cost him about 400 bucks less a month, and we are speaking about life sustaining drugs here, and he never had a single problem with any of his medicine, ever.
So based on our very real experience, I would encourage you to do it, save yourself the money, and feel safe while doing so.
Hope this helps.
panicbean
If you are taking Nexium, you can possibly lower costs by trying other proton pump inhibitors, such as prilosec (available OTC or prescrip), prevacid, or protonix.
Your MD can get you any or all of these in small quantities for free -- they make big bucks for the drug cos, so they hand out samples like candy. Prevacid (IIRC) had a rebate for quite a while where you'd get 40 or 50 bucks back -- a non-trivial chunk of a one-month cost.
I certainly do not advocate using a less-effective med to save money, but you may find (as I did) that one of these is more effective for you, *and* costs less than the one originally prescribed (by an MD who likely has no clue of how much you pay out of pocket).
All of this assumes, of course, that diet changes, etc. are not sufficiently effective, but you're a smart guy and know that already. This is for those who might be tempted to say "Just stop drinking cofee. It worked for me!"
If you are on maintenance meds, $1500 per year is nothing. While your plan may be good in other respects, it clearly fails you on this one. I hope you find a better one.
As someone who helps make drugs that are destined for a global market the EMEA standards set the bar that we need to meet. Generally if you can meet the EU regulations the FDA is no problem.
In fact if you want an example of how safe the drug supply in the US is look into how the FDA dropped the ball on Heparin from China last year. Canada can't do much worse than that...
www.pharmacychecker.com that is run by the
canadian international pharmacy association.
If I recall correctly, you don't live in any of those states, but you can go to the www.isaverx.net and see which Canadian pharmacies they buy from, and know that they have been checked and declared legitimate.
I believe CanaRx is the pharmacy that Illinois uses. If you go to CanaRx, you might be able to make purchases directly on your own.
If you troll around the I-SaveRx site you can find "reports" which are feasibility studies the organization performed for reimportation of drugs from Canada, Europe and Australia/NewZealand.
As for the discussions on this thread about seizure, yes, this was an issue for a time, and the I-SaveRx acknowledged it was possible before they even started up. But after putting on a show for a while, the administration backed off the issue, and there have been no seizures of reimported pharmaceuticals for personal use that I am aware of in nearly two years (these folks do vote, after all).
If you'd like more details, I can troll my archives and check some sources for you if you want to contact me directly. Let me know.
". . . (G)rowing numbers of city, county, and state governments are looking into—and facilitating—personal importation efforts for their own citizens. The cities of Boston, Burlington (Vermont), Montgomery (Alabama), San Francisco, and Springfield (Massachusetts) already aid residents with personal importation of prescription drugs, as do the states of Minnesota (where the Department of Human Services recently released a report recommending the expansion of their prescription drug network beyond Canada to Europe25), New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Washington. The newest additions include Montgomery County, Maryland, which solicited proposals from Canadian pharmacies regarding the supply of pharmaceuticals for county employees; and Nevada, Texas, and Montana, where lawmakers are proposing that state officials inspect Canadian pharmacies and link them to state personal importation websites."
I ordered from Medicine Express.
For 13-20 packs of 30 pills, I paid $17.00 and $7.50 shipping.
It came registered mail.
It is called Torvatin.
I had to do this because of Medicare Part D.
I just checked the site and it's there and running fine.
I'm on SSD. I got used to being poor and going without. If someone offers me something, I grab it. It's about taking care of yourself. When it comes to money, that's an external. It isn't who or what you are.
I learned that the hard way when I was treated like dirt and had to be polite because I was in the Social Security Disability process for over two years.
It is immoral for the U.S. to allow the citizens worry about medical and drug costs.
Look at the bailout.
No more wars, bring troops home off of foreign soil and knock off the Pentagon spending.
Contact the manufacturer of the drug that you need. Most will help you with the drug cost. Your doctor should have told you this.
Jeeze, John, you do more that most people. You deserve any bit of help you need.
You may not have meant "welfare queen" as an insult, but it is generally intended as such.
Where does he get such stuff? ON the street. They bring in all these drugs from canada.
has the canadian connection merely opened the door to illegal drugs from canada and overseas?
Buying brand-name medications from Canada can boost your mail-order savings, sometimes up to 50 percent. Generics, however, are cheaper in the U.S. And drugs bought in Canada will not count toward your Medicare Part D deductible. While it’s illegal to buy drugs from foreign countries, including Canada, because of safety concerns, the FDA may refrain from taking legal action if you can provide your doctor’s name, address, and phone number, and confirm that the drugs are for personal use. If you wish to explore this option, look for pharmacies with the Canadian International Pharmacy Association seal. Go to www.pharmacychecker.com, an independent group that evaluates online pharmacies, for the highest-rated sites.
I'm trying to find a real-life pharmacy over the Niagara/Buffalo border to do some price comparisons. Anyone have ideas?
We subsidize the drug company's R&D systems with our crazy prices, so be glad half of those drugs EVEN EXIST.
I dont believe anyone insinuated that you're a third-world country - but "www.Canadadrugsareawesome.com" might just be shipping from an open air market in the Saudi desert.
Every comment I have made has stated that Canada is NOT a third world country, their standards are high and their pharmacies are trustworthy as are the physicians they employ.
The issue is that Canada taxpayers do subsidize their meds and the American people do not. We should not have to explore these options, but don't get angry at people who are looking for an avenue that is affordable to find treatment for their family or themselves. Since as you say, Canadian medications are safe, people would naturally look there. But they are not looking to take your drugs - they are legitimately looking for the help that is being denied them in their own country.
RE: Kate's comments
Many of the pharma items available in Canada also require a legal prescription. The Canadian pharmacies do request legal prescriptions - their physicians write for Canada and prescription is filled.
We have used this service and never had a problem.
Why are you even taking Vytorin and Lipitor since both are cholesterol drugs? Why don’t you just eat oatmeal everyday and follow a cholesterol lowering diet and exercise (specifically, walking everyday).
Vytorin:
Results suggested that while Vytorin cuts cholesterol, it does not reduce heart disease any more than a statin alone.
There is no proof that Vytorin causes or promotes cancer. But in the 2,000-patient SEAS study, patients taking Vytorin died of cancer twice as often as did patients taking an inactive placebo.
The numbers aren't big -- 39 cancer deaths in the Vytorin group (4.1% of patients) vs. 23 cancer deaths in the placebo group (2.5% of patients). But they seem scary.
Lipitor:
Lipitor is a cholesterol-lowering medication that blocks the production of cholesterol (a type of fat) in the body.
Avoid eating foods that are high in fat or cholesterol. Lipitor will not be as effective in lowering your cholesterol if you do not follow a cholesterol-lowering diet plan.
Advair: This one is a steroid and I would stay as far away from them as possible. NOTE: My Brother just died from having a lung removed and, while he was given a “breathing treatment” that included steroid(abluterol) and it seemed to help his breathing in the instant, it seemed to be somewhat addictive and, more importantly, the steroid was slowly destroying the remaining lung.
Before using Advair, tell your doctor if you have a food or drug allergy, heart disease, high blood pressure, a seizure disorder, an infection, a weak immune system, diabetes, glaucoma, tuberculosis, osteoporosis, a thyroid disorder, or liver disease.
Call your doctor right away if you feel that this medicine is not working as well as usual, or if it makes your condition worse. Salmeterol has been shown to increase the risk of asthma-related death. It is critical that you use only the prescribed dose of this medicine and follow all patient instructions for safe use of the medication.
Nexium: This one is probably being prescribed because of the side effects of the above drugs – a/k/a as “symptom chasing”. Not a good idea to begin “sypmton chasing” because it never ends until you are dead.
Nexium is used to treat symptoms of gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) and other conditions involving excessive stomach acid such as Zollinger-Ellison syndrome. It is also used to promote healing of erosive esophagitis (damage to your esophagus caused by stomach acid).
Nexium may also be given to prevent gastric ulcer caused by infection with helicobacter pylori (H. pylori), or by the use of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs).
In addition, many naturopathic doctors believe that most people have too little stomach acid, not too much. So when you take Nexium you are only compounding the problem. My husband took all the anti-acids for years with little relief but now takes a beet derived herbal supplement after every meal and has no acid reflux problems. Safer and cheaper. Lots of good alternative ideas out there to get you off the prescriptions.
So, be very careful if you start taking untested "natural" drugs. Most of them are reasonably safe (usually because they aren't very effective) but with no control over quality and potency and no reliable scientific evidence of efficacy, all you're left with is guesswork and hope. Do not take massive doses of anything.
BTW: forget about homeopathic medications -- they *are* a fraud. They won't hurt you, since they're basically just water, but, since it is just water, save your money and drink from the kitchen faucet instead.
I just think that taking a trip wherever, and establish a person to person network when economically feasible is a safer idea.... We get so much crap over the internet and even more crap fro China....
Just ask any doc who works with homeopathics and neutraceuticals, and there are plenty, including elite equine sports vets. Properly administered homeopathic remedies (they are not usually called medications, by the way) can work wonders without risk of side effects, especially for post surgical trauma, orthopedic injuries and with chronic so-called incurable conditions such as arthritis. The problem with homeopathics is 1) they are not expensive enough, at five or six bucks a bottle, and can't be patented, to be a big money attraction for corporate medicine and 2) lack of education. I'll say that again: lack of education.
I won't take my aging Labrador into the woods with his DJD without homeopathic Rhus Tox. It's in his medical records at a premiere teaching university along with prescribed polysulfated glucosaminoglycan injections (Adequan) Following his surgery, the orthopedic veterinary surgeon was amazed at how little effusion (swelling) the joints showed. We had adminstered a Seattle WA human bone doc's homeopathic regimen pre-and post-surgery. The stuff worked great.
At five bucks, carefully chosen homeopathic remedies are part of my dogs' successful integrative medical programs. Plus, we "control" for placebo effect with canine patients - dogs can't read!
Pharmaceuticals are not always the safe and effective - or the only - way to go. Prescription drug Rimadyl (for canine arthritis) has been known to put some dogs (especially retrievers) into acute renal failure from which they do not recover. Give me five bucks and safe and effective over that any day!
Homeopathy _can't_possibly_work_. There are no active ingredients, nor is there any support for the "law of similars". Certainly there are people who think it works, but there are people who voted for George Bush in 2004. Both groups of people probably include some good people who just are/were misinformed or unknowledgeable.
The problem with homeopathic remedies is that they are either pure water or pure sugar. (I looked at a bottle recently, and it seemed plenty expensive to me - $750/lb. for pure sugar.) And yes, animals can experience the placebo effect. Please do some actual research.
Remedies derived from plants are a completely different story, of course. But when those are effective, people actual demonstrate it and then they become part of ordinary medicine. See your aspirin example, or look at quinine. However, the active ingredient in willow bark (salicylic acid) actually has _more_ side effects than the related compound sold as aspirin (acetylsalicylic acid). Again you appear to have no idea what you're talking about.
I believe what you're talking about is a vehicle or sham control, where the maipulation of the animal itself has an effect on the outcome of the experiment. Splitting hairs, I know.
In addition, the packaging is better (individual blister or foil pack), to help keep the meds from going bad or losing efficacy due to light or moisture. I've never had any problems with medicines dispensed from reputable pharmacies in India.
I am, by the way, uninsured and uninsurable due to the aforementioned migraines. I can't get jack in the States. Lacking insurance in India is not such a big deal though, because excellent health-care there is affordable.
The American people are being ripped off massively, and only sheer ignorance as to how the rest of the world lives staves off the outrage.
I just finished my MS in the field of regulatory science (how the FDA and other agencies work, basically), and from what I know, at least in the US any company that has an overseas plant and sells those drugs in the US must work with the FDA and ensure that the plant meets US standards. It is a costly and difficult procedure, so most companies keep as much of their operations as possible in the states. However, while I don't remember anything specific about the Canadian system, I do know that it is similar to the European system and with them, the same foreign-factory certification program is implemented as well. So, if this website gets its drugs from a certified factory, your safety should not be at risk. Feel free to contact me if I was not clear, and I will see if I can get you more specifics.
Any more regulatory science pros out there who can back me up?
When former Senator Mark Dayton ran his bus to Canada for the elderly, my mom went once a month and paid about a third of what she was paying here.
I waited and waited for the meds to arrive and about a week after I'd run out of the medication, I received a letter from the Dept. of Homeland Security Chicago office telling me that my drugs had been seized and gave me instructions on the (basically insurmountable) steps that I would have to take to get them (the first step is to sign a statement saying that you had tried to illegally import drugs into the country).
I called the state office in charge of the importing process, and was told to go ahead and order them again the same way because seizures were rare and I'd get through the second time. Within two weeks I got another letter from Homeland security telling me that they'd been seized again. Because the second letter came so fast, I took that to mean that the Dept of Homeland Security had created a file on me after the first seizure, speeding up the process for the second seizure.
Because of this, I don't consider purchasing Canadian drugs to be safe in terms of my freedom from government snooping. My opinion regarding the safety of Canadian drugs is that they're no more tainted than anything we get in the US. Go for it.
eDrugSearch.com, a free search engine and online community for Americans interested in purchasing safe, low-cost prescription drugs from prescreened Canadian pharmacies and other prescreened international pharmacies, announced that it has welcomed CanadaDrugs.com into its pharmacy directory. In accepting CanadaDrugs.com into its directory, eDrugSearch.com has added the pharmacy's inventory of prescription medications into the eDrugSearch.com database.
"Because CanadaDrugs.com is properly licensed and meets eDrugSearch.com's standards of quality and professionalism in online pharmacies, we have accepted its inventory of prescription medications into the eDrugSearch.com database," said Cary Byrd, president of eDrugSearch.com.
With more than 30,000 drug listings, eDrugSearch.com brings together licensed and accredited pharmacies from around the world in one comprehensive, easy-to-use database. The pharmacy page for CanadaDrugs.com is located at: http://www.edrugsearch.com/pharmacies/canadadru...
http://news.bigg.net/n62570-eDrugSearchcom_Acce...
Highly recommended.
Could you have stocked up??
Did you price compare?
Can someone send them to you?
I've been told that even some places in the Caribbean are cheaper... Don't think I would risk Mexico at this point...
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2008/dec/05/...
American economy is in freefall
The US does not have the generous welfare nets enjoyed by those laid off in Europe, so unless those made jobless can quickly find work the result will be hardship, poverty and the threat of disorder
o Larry Elliott, economics editor
Enjoy.
In any event, my experience was all positive. I can't remember much about the drug except that it was a muchos expensive antibiotic (because I'd already tried the cheaper stuff and they didn't work) .. and it worked just fine.
I can't remember how I found this company, but I'm sure I did a fair amount of research (I always do) ... they're located in Winnipeg.
Good luck.
I used Canadadrugs.com in the past when prescribed Vioxx after back surgery. (this was before the whole Vioxx fiasco!) Anyway, the drug was about 1/2 the price and worked well the first 2 times I ordered it. The problem is apparently CD.com occasionally contracts out to suppliers and warehouses outside of Canada. The last time I filled a prescription for Vioxx, they came from one of these alternate sources and the recieved drugs DID NOT WORK at all. I called CD to complain and was referred to an address for the conbtracted supplier. I wrote but never recieved any reply. I finally contated the supplier through CD and was told to send the remaider of the prescription back, did so, and again recieved no further communication. Franlkey at this point I gave up. In speaking with a pharmacist friend later I was told that one problem with some external suppliers is that the drugs are stored improperly in non airconditioned warehouses and this can degrade their effectiveness. I have since stuck to local pharmacies for my prescriptions despite the higher cost.
It says this:
"Find your medicine(s) in the A-to-Z prescription medicine list below. Click on the the appropriate letter your prescription medicine starts with to view your specific prescription medicine. Once the prescription medicine list appears, click on your medicine. You will then be taken to the prescription medicine summary information page, which will show the cost for each pharmacy. Once on the medicine summary page, you will be able to choose the pharmacy from which you want to order. "
This may help you ...
I've never had any know problem with any of the medications I've received, or any adverse reactions. However, with some things you might never know if they were adulterated. Economics forced me to trust them, and the alternative, (no medication at all), is probably worse.
I had one shipment siezed by US customs in the past 4 years, which was promptly replaced by the company for free. It is my understanding that LaGuardia airport went through a period of time, (when mine was seized), where they were cracking down, and the Canadian pharmacies took steps to re-route medications. While it may or probably will change at some point in the future, it is my understanding that currently the feds are taking a "look the other way" approach to the import of medications.
As for fake medications, I believe that has been an occasional problem in the past, albeit a relatively rare one. One of the pharmacies I used to use was accused of this, and was then purchased by CanadaDrugs. My belief is that their is too much money involved for a reputable pharmacy to take risks, and as long as you don't try to purchase from "Jaques house of pills and bait" you will probably be ok.
As for comments that American consumers are being subsidized by the Canadian government, (and their taxpayers), I don't believe that is true. TTBOMK, the reason prices is low is because the Canadian government dictates what the maximum price can be. However, Americans do subsidise the price for drugs sold in the rest of the world in two ways. First, through taxpayer subsidies for drug tests and trials, and also through the higher prices we pay for medications, which allows manufactuers to offer them for less in other countries.
I go to Mexico sometimes to get prescription drugs. Most of the time, at least at this teeny-tiny border crossing, the guards just wave you through. The time before last, I got "Walter," and Walter was either bored or having a bad day. He kept me there for almost a half hour going through my stuff and lecturing me.
I have a comment re: nexium. The numbers I will cite will be approximate, but the point wil be accurate. Nexium was "created" from Prilosec - it is nearly the same drug, but the patent on Prilosec has run out. The law allows a drug company to make small modifictions and continue patent protected sale if it can show that there is an improvement in using the new, modified drug. Now, without knowing exactly how improvement was measured, Nexium showed a statistically significant improvement in the repair rate of the esophagus compared to Prilosec. The key term is statistically significant, Prilosec does extremely well (say 88% by whatever measure) and Nexium scored a little better (perhaps 90% or 92%). This is a statistically significant finding, but it really isn't that much difference in a clinical sense. There is no reason not to take Prilosec and I know that I can get it in the grocery store here for less than a dollar a dollar a dose (pill). Many Docs don't get that statistical significance and medical significance are not the same thing. Oh, my handle is "Docbradd" but I am not a medical doc (Ph.D. in cognitive psychophysiology), and I am very good with statistics.
Oh, as to the measure - as I recall it, the measure was teh amount of repair after some time period. Perhaps weeks, but I don't recall. If you are controlling reflux with either drug, there should be no deed to worry about repair, so even that difference is bogus if, like me, you take one every day in any case.
I looked up some info on the two drugs:
From: http://gerd.emedtv.com/prilosec/prilosec-vs.-ne...
Prilosec vs. Nexium: Uses
Nexium and Prilosec are approved for nearly all of the same uses.
They are both approved to treat the following conditions:
* Duodenal ulcers (ulcers in the very first part of the intestine after the stomach). Both Prilosec and Nexium can be used to treat a duodenal ulcer due to a Helicobacter pylori infection. Prilosec (but not Nexium) is also approved to treat duodenal ulcers due to other causes.
* Gastric ulcers (stomach ulcers). Prilosec and Nexium are approved to treat benign (noncancerous) gastric ulcers. However, Nexium is only approved to treat gastric ulcers due to nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), while Prilosec is approved to treat gastric ulcers of all causes.
* Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). Prilosec and Nexium help treat GERD, helping to relieve heartburn and heal esophagitis (damage to the esophagus) due to GERD.
* Pathological hypersecretory conditions. Prilosec (but not Nexium) is approved to help treat these conditions (when too much stomach acid is produced), such as Zollinger-Ellison syndrome.
Prilosec is approved for children as young as two years old; Nexium, however, is approved only for adults.
Might be worth a road trip to Toronto.
http://www4.egov.nh.gov/Medicine-Cabinet/
Good Luck
I've never ordered from them, but I do order from Canada Pharmacy (www.canadapharmacy.com) and have never had a problem. The only time I've ever had anything happen was a delay for some muscle relaxers that they didn't carry, but ordered in from the UK...and I didn't have a problem with those either.
From everything I've ever experienced, I'm getting the same quality drugs there that I would from my neighborhood Walgreen's or CVS.
I have also been quite pleased with Canada Pharmacy. As a juvenile onset diabetic who is now 50, I've used this company for my medical needs for over 6 years. My life partner is also using their site. I have never received any of our medications from anywhere other than UK associated governments (i.e., New Zealand, Australia, England) and Canada. They only started shipping from these other destinations when OUR government started confiscating drugs as they crossed the boarded. Doing so reduced the seizure rates. We've been extremely pleased and I've reduced my our of pocket expenses significantly. I chose this pharmacy because they have an address, phone number, and are registered with the pharmacy association in Canada. I spent time and effort doing my research and was also quite concerned by being taken in by a fly by night back room web server sham. I believe we were quite successful and have recommende them to my parents and other small business owners who can not afford insurance.
Cheaper, easier to get and same quality.
Though I have a few friends who get their name brand scrips from CA, they (and most recently I) go with the generics when available. My doctor suggested I check into Wal*Mart's list of hundreds of meds that are available for $4. for a 30 day supply, and $10. for a 90 day supply. Example: Instead of Diovan (which has no generic yet) which would cost me around $100. a month, he suggested a similar Generic from the Wal*Mart list at $4. instead. He monitored me for that 30 days and the BP was great and with no side effects.
He prescribed Lipitor for my elevated Cholesterol, which ultimately sent me to hospital via 911 with an severe allergic reaction.
So, as many have suggested below stay away from as many of these potentially lethal - and big money makers - as possible. These days you have to be your own advocate when it comes to your health.
So check out the Wal*Mart site and then ask your Dr. to suggest one from the list. You can print out the entire list (it's 5 pages in length) and have a look.
One last thing, before filling a new prescription look up the drug and learn what it's suppose to do, how it will interact with other meds you're taking, the possible side effects, and warnings. If you have an allergic reaction to a med that set you back a couple of hundred bucks, that money is gone...you're stuck with a useless bottle and nothing more.
Just my two cents - plain.
Good Luck
A general rule of thumb is that you should never go with a drug the doctor has samples of unless the doctor can give you so many of them that you don't need to go to get a prescription for it AT ALL. The drugs that drug companies provide as samples are ALWAYS expensive drugs, NEVER the cheapest drug in a class. Even if the doctor gives you enough samples for 6 months out of 12, your cost to fill the script for the other 6 months will be more than the cost of a year on a generic alternative that you pay for.
Wait, he's ALREADY backpedaling on Iraq. Guess he AIN'T gonna pull the troops out immediately, like he said. Aww, thanks for playing libs. You just got flim-flammed by the con man from Daley's machine.
http://noliberalspin.blogtownhall.com/
The Anti Liberal Zone
You have 8 years to make stuff up. Don't use it all up at once.
PS: A pharmacopoeia is a book that defines the testing required for various drugs. If you look up, say, aspirin in the US Pharmacopoeia, it will give the chemical formula for aspirin, the general characteristics of the drug, and the quality control tests that must be performed on aspirin to release it for sale. Drugs that are still on-patent will typically not be in the pharmacopoeias, although there are general tests that are in them that still have to be performed on patented drugs.
My husband used blood pressure medicine and Flonase. We got the blood pressure meds from Thailand and India and the Flonase (known as Flixonase everywhere but North America) came from New Zealand. This was before he had prescription insurance. The Flixonase is now available here as a 'generic' even though it's in the same bottle made by the same company. The only difference is the label and the color of the cap. The stuff we got from New Zealand was also made in the same factory that the stuff we get now is according to the label. We also bought him some generic Zyrtec from Thailand even before it was available here and that worked just fine too.
I think that most of the stuff you hear about meds being bad from other countries is because of these sites that market Viagra by junk mail. It's true that you can purchase Viagra and similar drugs OTC in Mexico but since they are so expensive the incentive to forge pills that look like them but contain only sugar is great. It's not as much when a pill doesn't cost $10 each.
I would try a single month batch and see how it works for you. If it doesn't you haven't invested too much in the experiment. If it does you can purchase more, usually at a little better discount, the next time around.
I also suggest checking into medications that may work as well for you that are much much cheaper.
For instance, I prescribe pravastatin in place of lipitor a lot since you can get 30 tablets at Walmart (and others) for just $4. Omeprazole (prilosec) is not quite as effective as nexium but for the majority of patients works just as well. You can find generic versions that may be cheaper than a copayment. Advair is a good drug but there is no good replacement for it. I don't prescribe vytorin much anymore since the component zetia has been found next to worthless in decreasing plaque buildup even though it reduces the cholesterol number.
In doing your research on this topic, I'd recommend reading about the Medicare "donut" for prescription drugs that many elderly face. That is another system that needs changed.
Jerry Douglas, M.D.
If you're really poor, like I am, making under 21k a year you can get your drugs free from the manufacturers. That's what I'm doing now.
And what's wrong with being a welfare queen? None of the Wall Street welfare queens have any problems taking anything people are willing to give to them.
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http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/asecti...
Whenever the government attempts to guarantee a service such as healthcare, it must control it, leading to Canadian-style rationing and waiting lists.
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Y'know, frankly I'm getting tired of right wingers who shill, either wittingly or unwittingly for the health care or pharma industry and want all of us to believe that we have the best health care in the world and that Europe and Canada are somehow suffering thru totalitarianism and want in regards to their health care system.
Another thing - just an FYI for anyone: I use a medication that brand wise is $160/month, generic (tablet form) $30/co-pay. OK, well the insurance wouldn't pay the brand cost, but I couldn't take the generic form because it didn't "work." I'm serious because after a few days I could feel & tell a difference. I talked to one of the pharmacists at work about it. She said - it was VERY likely that it was the coating on the tablet and to ask for capsules instead. Presto! Un-fucking-believable!
Generic heart drugs as good as brand names
T.
To help you short term (and other folks using the duct-taped mess of a US health system) some pharmacies (Hannaford Supermarkets in the East, for one) and online sites have free cards to discount prescriptions. Every little bit helps. I wouldn't feel the least bit self conscious taking those samples from your doc; consider the golf junkets, lavish commissions, catered lunches and jacked up salaries the present system supports.
Beyond that, I hope any do-over of the US health care delivery system puts preventive and integrative medicine front and center. It is so discouraging for people to be up against the no-no-no of the insurance companies when common sense says yes, you can. I stopped paying for drug coverage for my plan because they refused to pay for the only FDA approved medication for a serious condition my doctor was an expert in treating. It wasn't in the formulary, but they had nothing in the formulary FDA approved to treat it. Stuck on stupid.
Imagine what America could do with all the wasted , frustrated energy people spend fighting HMO medical management. Maybe we could... hmmm... become energy independent or something.
Good luck and be well, John.
I don't to make you feel worse, but in Australia ALL people can get cheaper drugs. Lipitor is about A$29 (approx US$20) for those who are not pensioners, cares, unemployed, etc. They get it for A$5.
This is part of the universal health care provided via a 1.5% Medicare levy on taxable income. This universal health care provides every Australian with (in 80% of times) free visits to GP's of their choice, full public hospital cover and drugs listed on the PBS (Pharmceutical Benefits Scheme - where drugs are only added where there is proven to provide demonstrable and cost effective benefit).
I needed a tapeworm med for my cats that cost $20 per dose here, but from Canadavet.com, it was only $1.70 each. For my husband, we get the over-the-counter Zyrtec for 30 cents or so per dose rather than the $1 or so it costs here.
I have received packages from the UK, Germany, and Australia, but the meds were always god, in original packaging, with all appropriate labeling.
Don't limit yourself to only one online Canadian pharmacy though, their prices vary, and you will find that some have good prices on certain drugs, but not others. Shop around.
Why are you taking these toxic medicines. Try to find an alternative doctor, one that deals in natural medicine. Fish oil, red yeast rice and niacin ca take the place of Lipitor.The medical establishment has convinced us that cholesterol alone is the cause of heart attacks, not so. Lipitor alone is a $13 billion a year industry. Taking it runs the risk of eventually getting cancer, alzheimers,memory loss, muscle weakness, etc. Two books to read are "What Your Doctor May Not tell You About Chlolesterol" by Stephen Devries, MD and "The Cholesterol Hoax", by Sherry Rogers, MD.
Under MA law, I had to change my plan to get drug coverage so it may be cheaper to buy through my plan now but I won't have to think about that for another five or six months.
Reading the labels, usually the Advair is packaged in the same Glaxo factory in the UK but bound for different countries.
Here's my concern: why is it that the richest nation on earth charges so much more for meds than any other country in the world? Making a profit is one thing, but making a profit that is obscene? :-(
One sidebar, I used to work for a Bio-tech in San Diego who makes several kinds of vaccines and does R/D. www.vical.com They recently got approved for sales in Europe and had to go through a upgrade in order to produce drugs in Europe who's rules/regs are FAR MORE strict than the FDA's. It took months of work just to get a passing grade and every 6 months, they shut down for several weeks to clean and setup again which is rigorously monitored . The FDA is a bloated, corrupt, dinosaur that is run by the greedy pigopolists who continue to shovel their tripe into the troughs of the American citizens. They don't want us to be healthy or find cures for disease, they want us overweight and out of shape so they can continue to make money. Can't have a cure for something because there's no profit in healthy Americans.
But I'm happy. I'm poor. I don't have insurance. To me, it's all a blessing. And I get the added satisfaction of knowing my money is not going to the fucking scalpers in the US.
If you really are concerned about getting some generic made in another country, you can just specify NO GENERIC when you place your order. You'll pay a little more, but still less than you would in the US -- and you will get the same exact drug, made in the USA, that your local pharmacy sells.
Be aware, though, that some brand name drugs are not really American. For instance, again, Lexapro, which is marketed in the US by Forest Labs, but is actually first designed and sold in the EU under brandname Cipralex by Lundbeck.
Also, John, don't be shy about taking free samples from the doctor. The drug companies push those on the doctors like crazy. The doctors don't pay for them. They just take up shelf space. They would love to give that crap away, and if it makes you a happier customer, they are happy to do it. The doctors don't have time to bother triaging who gets it and who doesn't. You ask for it first, you get it.
Another money saving tip -- because of the drug company reps pushing doctors to prescribe their new meds (with the free samples and knick knacks, etc.) doctors often prescribe the newest, shiniest drugs without regard for the fact that there are already a host of other drugs out there that do the exact same thing, have been doing it longer and more reliably and with known issues resolved. If the doctor prescribes a new med for you that doesn't have a generic available for it (thus raising its cost to you), ask him for a slightly older and cheaper drug.
on-line pharmacy and almost stroked out. Lots of luck with your situation, I hope it works out for you!
I can't specifically talk about CanadaDrugs.com, but I can say that Canada has a very effective drug regulatory system and that I would not hesitate to take drugs made or sold in Canada. In fact, many drugs sold in Canada are made in the US and exported to Canada. Many drugs are cheaper in Canada because of that 'socialized medicine' thing they have up there. Think about what would happen if Medicare started negotiating the cost of drugs.
I am being cheeky because as a Canadian-American dual, I am fucking insulted by such a ignorance John shows.
I usually like this blog, but fuck off, eh?
The USA is a goddamn third-world country compared to Canada and Yanks' stupidity of the rest of the world, as well as yer own neighbours, is EMBARRASSING!
Now go ask GlaxoSmithKline, Wyeth, Sandoz, and the like, WHERE they actually MAKE those drugs. That's what you have to worry about. It ain't New Jersey, folks.
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http://www.onlinecanadianpharmacy.com/
http://www.lef.org
I appreciate how they continually battle the FDA in court, and win, to secure our health freedom. What in hell is going on at the FDA?!
http://www.canadadrugs.com/index.php?REF=Redire...
I orginally signed up online and I call their tollfree number when I start running low to reorder. They have a lag time of about 3 weeks so you have to learn to plan ahead. Good luck!
Also check Wal-Mart and Target pharmacy. They are constantly increasing the generic drug list. We used to get my mother's cholesterol drugs from Canada. Then the drug became available for $4 generic for 20mg. Well, she needed 40mg. Oh, that would cost $60 instead of $4. So I had the doctor write the prescription for two 20mg tabs per day. Now her monthly drugs are $8 instead of $60. You have to really keep on top of things to protect your health.
Also, some states, like mine here in NC, offer discount programs for the general public to participate in, and the information for the program is kept at the prescription drop-off areas in most, if not all pharmacies here. Other states have similar programs, but don't necessarily go out of their way to make them known to the general public.
A good source of information is always the local pharmacist - they can usually point you to any programs that are available in your area.
As far as "certified," our company is in the process of making sure that all drugs that come through our facility are "pedigreed," meaning the manufacturer verifies the origin of the drug, and that the drug is what the label says it is, but I do not know if this relates to a standard or being certified.
I don't know if this helped.
In the past I ordered spot-on flea medication from an Australian firm. Bayer didn't like Americans ordering their products and paying less than they would in America so they filed a law suit and a permanent injunction against selling the products to Americans was granted. When I spoke to the customer service rep about the American pharmaceutical companies not wanting to lose money, she laughed and agreed with me.
P.S., Darwin was a science fetishst, Sarah Palin is not.
John, it's expensive, but do check out Wobenzym N as a preventive measure. It really helps with controlling inflammation. I've been taking it for 6 years now and no longer take any pharmaceuticals. Nor do I get sick with bronchial problems like I used to. Haven't had one of my annual winter colds or the flu in 6 years. Seriously; no exaggeration at all.
Turmeric looks worth buying in bulk I read it's a COX 2 inhibitor, as is Vioxx, but turmeric won't kill you.
I'm not knocking turmeric, its active ingredient (curcumin) and resveratrol (from red wine) are truly intriguing compounds, and warrant science-fetish level examination for lots of indications.
Consult your trained food professional,
We all have complained about the FDA in the past being too strict with drug approvals. More recently, there have been complaints that they are too quick to approve. Some countries are far worse and you have no idea what guidelines they use even if you knew where they came from. You may choose to believe that the FDA is in the hands of American drug companies and too some degree that is correct, but they are far more trustworthy than you will find in many other countries that produce bogus drugs. Did you know that China exports some fake drugs that look like real drugs that have nothing but fillers and are totally useless? They have even been found in retail pharmacies.
What is this "welfare queen" bs? I don't even want to hear it. Those drug companies have billions of dollars (the Big 3 should go to them for a loan). They can afford to pay you back with some free drugs for all the drugs you've paid for over the years. And you have paid for them even though you may have presented your insurance card - somebody paid for that insurance so you could purchase those drugs.
To be really honest, at some point, we have to believe that some of the government still serves us enough to offer some protection - or at least more than we as Americans will get from Turkey, the Bahamas and India.
My answer to your "Is it safe? question - there's no way to tell.
my doctor suggested canadian pharmacies. I tried one called canadianpharmacy.com. I ordered Valtrex. The pills arrived, and they seem to be manufactured in India. They work perfectly. Believe me, if they were placebos, I'd notice an outbreak right away! I also ordered some name brand sunblock with Mexoryl (made by L'Oreal) which is the only thing that blocks both UVA and UVB damage. It's not allowed in the US because the FDA hasn't been paid off... you know the drill!
I'm sure some of the Canadian pharmacies are frauds. Mine's not the best, (there's no customer service) but they're at least for real. I went to MetaFilter to research the ones I tried, and I also used Mark Frauenfelder's advice, who wrote a whole book on Internet help and health.
The book _Trick or Treatment: The Undeniable Facts about Alternative Medicine_, by Singh and Ernst, is a very accessible, clear book that explains exactly what is going on with so-called alternative treatments, homeopathy included. Ernst himself used to work as a homeopathic doctor, and would have dearly loved to have been right. Imagine what it would be like to realize you didn't help all those people you thought you did! But he faced the truth. This book and Bausell's _Snake Oil Science: The Truth about Complementary and Alternative Medicine_ both explain well why people do see _real_ effects when taking useless treatments, like homeopathy. There are a number of reasons, key among them being that most people would have gotten better if they'd taken nothing at all. The human body is quite good at fixing problems, which is why so much research focuses on the handful of problems our bodies can't deal with, like cancer and AIDS.
And really, the phrase "science-fetish"? This is just like the Bush administration criticizing the "reality-based community". I mean, what?
Science is universal, same from place to place. Not so with medicine, where a doctor in France might be alarmed at the ease of acquiring a prescription for antibiotics in the USA for a condition that might clear up on it's own in a matter of days. And yet, cultures around the globe address medicine as though it were science.
http://www.laleva.org/eng/2008/12/fda_reluctant...
Beware of FDA "science."
Let me rephrase for you: "Beware of Bush's FDA."
If you read the article, it says that the rogue FDA has been FORCED, by court action, to admit that mercury amalgam fillings are dangerous, after insisting, for decades, that no science indicated danger. My thought is that the FDA missed NOTHING, and were/are protecting business interests over those of the tax payer's babies and children.
The FDA, long masquerading as a protector of the public, has been exposed-- again.
"To the question of whether the white paper’s conclusions were “reasonable” the panel also voted “no” by the same 13-7 margin. Some of the reasons cited by the majority were that no conclusion could be drawn because the evidence was often contradictory and that conclusions based on a limited search should not be made. "
Funny how that's the same decision cited by "Natural News." ain't it?
I am quite aware as well that there's a cottage industry where quack dentists are taking lots of money from patients to remove their "mercury laden" amalgams. Taking advantage of people's ignorance of chemistry is simply wrong. In my mind this is an unethical treatment, and an immoral waste of resources.
I have six amalgam fillings in my mouth, and my children each have one. I also have a doctorate in Pharmacology/toxicology, which I guess is sort of a science fetish. I have lost exactly zero sleep over either fact.
http://www.quackwatch.org/01QuackeryRelatedTopi...
http://www.quackpotwatch.org/WisconsinWar/who_a...
I linked to quackwatch specifically to highlight the peer reviewed literature links on their site. I figured even PubMed would overwhelm a science-phobic like you. I don't give a shit about quackwatch, it was a convenient link, though, and offered just about exactly the level of interaction I can stomach from you and the rest of the tooth fairy crowd.
You, on the other hand, linked to Tim Bolen, who has what appears to be a pathological obsession with quackwatch and its authors. Are you really aligning yourself with someone who resorts to posting photos of someone's home, their address, and their CV, along with scathing invective and speculation as to their mental stability? This strategy is no different from the ALF/PETA terrorism that incites firebombings in Santa cruz, or Operation Rescue posting the names of Ob/Gyns and pictures of their families on the web. You down with that?
Is character assasination what you really want to espouse in the name of your pseudoscience truthiness? Is your black helicopter hatred of the FDA that deep? Be my guest, you have the field all to yourself. I'll stay with the reality-based community. By all means, lay down with the Tim Bolens and Sarah Palins of the world.
One request, though. After you've had your fill of nutraceuticals and tooth extractions, and after your chakras and engrams are all aligned, please have the self respect not to plead for the fruits of science fetishist labor when you're curled up in a painful ball of goo from some otherwise preventable or treatable disease.
And likewise, when you or your loved ones are having an asthma attack, I hope the FDA approved asthma inhaler you purchase is one of the ones that actually contains the listed active ingredient you require,
First, full disclosure. I am a drug company scientist.
I am also a Socialist who spent 13 years in training, living on less than poverty level wages and racking up massive debt to become a decent researcher. I've been laid off three times in seven years, and my industry is suffering just like everyone else. I may not have a job next Friday. I can't believe I have to justify this, but most of us do research b/c we want to see a cure and believe that drug research is the only way to make help that happen in our lifetime. My Dad died a horrible death from cancer, and I want to help cure it. So spare me the inevitable crap about my colleagues' greed, avarice, gluttony, etc.
I also just spent ~800 dollars this afternoon to do ONE experiment that read out on a $350K instrument we bought for the purpose a few months ago. As is obvious from many of the comments below, many people have zero appreciation for the cost and complexity of what we do. Still, I support universal health care and Govt subsidized Rx. (Caveat emptor, when's the last time Canada develped a decent drug? Off the top of my head, I can only name insulin, and that was in the 1920's. Maybe the EU can support research and offer Rx suport, but Canada?)
I do not know the answer to your question, and I feel your pain regarding the price of drugs. It hurts our budget too, and we have decent insurance.
I am also on a similar Rx regimen. My advice? Want to roll the dice and get some Haitian counterfeit drugs? No better place to start than an online pharmacy. Asthma is immediately life threatening, and i wouldn't fuck around there at all. I would personally not buy either from OUS. Getting stuck away from an ER with an asthma attack, and impotent asthma meds will make you dead. Take impotent statins and you quite literally piss away money. Take contaminated meds and...who knows?
I'd willingly go bankrupt willingly before stopping my Advair. I don't trust overseas sources of drugs, and would NEVER rely on a shell company to keep me breathing. Regardless of the meds situation, get rid of the pet and vaccum thoroughly once a week with a HEPA filtered machine. I had to give away my cat. It hurt, but things got better fast in the breathing department. If you smoke, quit. Now.
As for the lipid lowering agents, if you feel you can't take the cost, rather than investing in OUS Rx, I think it might be more useful to use the cash for a health club and eyshades instead. At least exercise and a good night's sleep are known to work in lowering stress, so your heart attack risk won't rise as much as if you did nothing. And you won't get poisoned. (Sure, the FDA supposedly has oversight responsibilities, but would you trust the Bushies to do that right? Google "Heparin contamination" and see what I mean.)
Hyperlipidemia is also life threatening, Research (which I believe is likely true) suggests that, if we don't change our lifestyles and eating habits, we'd damned well better get used to the idea of our healthcare system going bankrupt from widespread CV diseases that would be otherwise limited by statin use (e.g., Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, cancer, autoimmune disease, and many more we don't yet understand). You owe it to the rest of us to stay healthy :-).
Good luck to us all, we'll need it!
Bloggingly yours,
CL
P.S.,Did I mention? If you smoke, quit now.
I was addressing your readers here...
I am a physician and know of what I speak, retired this year after 35 years in FP.
I think you can do as other commenters have said and check the specific on-line Canadian pharmacy to a point where you will feel safe ordering from them. Though i can't point you to sites, I am sure you can also research yourself the origins of the drugs in any Canadian pharmacy. I would call and speak with a rep at any pharmacy. Crossing the border to buy a year's worth makes sense but is cumbersome, given passport requirements and transportation costs. And if your meds change, you might be left with a pile of unused meds.
The BEST things you can do, however, are reduce your current medication loads as has been suggested. You can't do much better with the asthma except get rid of the cat, dust, bad air, smoking, etc. Those things do work of course. Unless you've tried and failed Zantac (ranitidine) and Tagamet (cimetidine) OTC, which are cheap, look like mad for simple remedies for the acid problem. OTC Prevacid also has a generic (Costco is the cheapest) and rivals Nexium in effectiveness.
Likewise, do everything possible to make your diet great and exercise aerobically every day until you find it an enjoyable habit. And you will if you haven't already. I'd be surprised if your lipids don't improve and the med requirements drop. Those drugs have potentially very serious and life-threatening side effects of their own as I'm sure you and your doctor know.
BCBS have these blanket limitations since many people spend little on drugs but many spend huge sums because of the high costs and unavailable generics. It's all actuarial stuff, keeping premiums down. Your costs probably went up this year for the same drugs and thus you max'ed out. The REAL problem is having dozens of insurance companies with hundreds of different plans, EACH ONE with different criteria, drug formularies, and hundreds of thousands of employees to manage the whole thing. That includes most of a doctor's office staff to deal with the quagmires the insurance people throw up to withhold care.
The solution, which we won't see in America any time soon, is a single payer system, which can negotiate with drug manufacturers on price and keep the SAME drugs on formulary until everyone gets used to using them without fear of inevitable yearly changes.
As with other foods, nutrient supplements don't always digest well together. Potatoes and nuts, for example. I read the digestive enzymes for these foods cancel each other out. After making a meal of both one time, I accepted it as fact.
http://www.lef.org/magazine/mag2002/apr2002_aws...
"...Among Schering’s problems were making asthma inhalers that did not have any medication inside. Acute asthma attacks suffocate 5,438 Americans every year.[6] With no medication in an inhaler, any asthma attack can be lethal. The FDA repeatedly found the same problem with these asthma inhalers (no medicine inside), but it took Schering years to correct the problem..."
I cannot speak to whether or not Canadian drugs meet our own FDA standards, but I can suggest that if you're near to a Costco, their meds are much cheaper than the standard drugstore price. For instance, I take Zetia for cholesterol -- at my local Walgreens it's $105.99, at Costco it's $45.00 a heckuva savings.
~ Shelly
I certainly wouldn't worry about drugs from a reputable place in Canada. You could probably get safe and cheap drugs from Mexico, too, but the only direct experience I have with drugs there was over-the-counter stomach stuff that was probably made here, anyway.
I take lipitor, Lotrel & Aggrenox, all expensive.
Thanks
Gerry