How do you go about purching prescription meds in europe? I will be in italy, france and amsterdam, and would like to buy my pills, (if they are cheeper) I don't have health insurance in the US so i pay everything out of pocket. Do you know of anyweb sites that would give me the price of meds in europe?
thanks

Sorry, don't know a website, but I can tell you that in the Netherlands, prescription medications can only be bought at a pharmacy ('apotheek') with a doctor's prescription. They may be cheaper, but you'd have to get a doctor's appointment (about US$30) and then convince him or her to write a prescription. Lots of drugs which are available as over-the-counter medication in the USA are only available by prescription here, so unless you're looking for 'medical marijuana', the Netherlands is not the place to obtain cheap & easy prescription medication!

My first thought when I read this was the difficulties you may have with obtaining an Rx from a local prescriber as I assume you'll probably have difficulty getting any pharmacy to accept a foreign-written prescription.
The only "help" on this I think I can honestly give you is to urge you to consider that by the time you add up all the hoops you may have to jump through to get those "cheaper" European medications you might have spent the same, or even less, by just buying them here. Good luck.

If your medication is something you really need for your health, I would not take any chances. Obtain what you need at home before traveling. I would not want to to take the chance of finding a pharmacy or even a local doctor when & where I needed it in a unfamiliar town/country, and face the possibility of brands or meds I needed not being available. Carry your meds in your carry-on luggage too just in case your checked luggage gets delayed or lost. I'm fortunate not to need any prescription meds on a regular basis myself - yet - knock on wood - but I know people who do including several diabetics. Don't take chances with your health - traveling is tough enough on the body as it is. Get what you need at home even if you pay more. To quote the Matercard commercial, it's priceless.

Actually, I think illusion321 is talking about stocking up on prescription drugs while in Europe for future use at home, if the prices are cheaper. I know there are several web sites for European pharmacies that will accept US prescriptions by mail and fill the drug order by mail. I don't know of any specific sites though, but I'm sure they could be found with a simple web search.

You can definitely save money on some drugs, but probably not on all of them. You would also want to look into customs laws about what the limits are for bringing these drugs back into the states, though.

If you're going to need to buy meds while traveling overseas when your current U.S. meds run out, make sure you take the bottle with you. Often, meds outside the US are given different brand or commercial names, and the pharmacist (also called a chemist) can only match what you need if he/she can see the chemical name on the bottle.

Also, if the meds or medical apparatus(es) (such as a machine to help you breathe at night if you've got a sleep disorder) you're traveling with might be questioned in any way by the folks at the airport, make sure to take a note from your doctor with you.

My experience with Swiss doctors is this: they are well trained, releuctant to use steroids, well versed in the use of herbal medicines, and willing to use the antibiotic needed to get the job done. I developed a severe sinus infection last summer as well as coming down with an injured back.
The doctor I saw for the sinus problems got right on it with inhalers, sprays, and antibiotics. The back injury was less well handled. The muscle relaxers and mild pain medications did little good; I got relief only after I returned home.

The cost of the appointments was much cheaper than at home. The cost of the medicines was low. The high powered antibiotic I took would have cost me 3 times as much here.
(Or cost someone, me and my insurance company together.)
If you really need the prescriptions, I think you could get them, but getting refills in the USA on a foreign doctdors prescription probably will be impossible.
I doubt if you could lug home a year's supply to make the whole purchase cost effective.

actually i was refering to Yasmin, a type of bithcontrol, that I think is imported into the US (i thinks its german), so if any of you ladies know anything about this let me know

Wouldn't someone also run the risk of having the meds confiscated on arrival back in the U.S.? Especially in large amounts?

illusion321,

In Switzerland (where I live), you'll have no problem getting prescription meds with a prescription issued by a doctor in the US (at least in large cities & tourist destinations). Just make sure your doctor writes halfway legibly and includes the name of the active substance (drospirenone in this case) in addition to the name brand name (Yasmin in this case) - medications almost always have different names in Europe. BTW, drugs are generally even cheaper in France (the pill is called Jasmine there) than in Switzerland.

Why do you need to know the exact price before leaving? Just check how much the pills cost in the US so you can compare when you're in Europe. Pharmacies all take credit cards.

It seems you can pretty much import all the medication you want if you have a prescription. Here's an excerpt from the Customs Dept. website:
"If the U.S. Resident has a prescription for the controlled substance issued by a DEA registrant (a U.S.-licensed practitioner (e.g., physician, dentist, etc.) registered with and authorized by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to prescribe the mediation), more than 50 dosage units may be imported by that person, provided all other legal requirements are met."

http://www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/travel/le...tricted.xml#16

Hope this helps,
Andre

A Controlled Substance is not a regular medication, ie BC pills. A controlled substance is a narcotic Class 1-5..so for most meds that wouldn't apply.

I have bought the 2 meds I use for several years in UK and France,

Zyrtec is OTC in UK so I stock up or have friends pick it up for me and bring back or have UK friends send it to me. I pay 1/5 the price , even at the awful exchange rate.

Flonase , I have just gone into French pharmacies , shown the bottle and have been given it.Pharmacists have much more discretionary power than in the US..though actually in most states pharmacists are allowed to prescribe and dispense...we just don't want to be bothered with the paper work and regulations and major chains don't want the responsibility that might ensue..

Sometimes I'll be asked if I have a prescription from a Dr..I answer ..yes in the US.. and they give it to me. I also carry an old RX label and an RX from the Dr.. I never have had a problem getting it.

A friend told me she asked about her husband's cholesterol med..I think Lipitor..it was 50 cents a tablet there versus almost 2.50 here...she bought several months!

I tried it with my husband's Zocor... he takes 80 mg..the French pharmacist was horrified..the only strengths they have are 10 and 20 mg.. I guess all that red wine does the trick!

I've only once at customs been asked to open a bag..I do have receipts for everything ..I just list minor purchases under MISC. And I do list everything and have reciepts. That time the man kept looking at a pair of late 19th cen candlesticks and looking for the " antique mark"????????? I had to explain to him that 19th century was the 1800's !

I don't know the limits on bringing back medications as to amount, but I would check with customs to see if you can bring back a whole year or not. Birth control pills aren't usually covered by insurance, anyway. If you haven't tried online already, I bought mine from drugstore.com and got about 25 pct off what my local chain pharmacy charges, although it wasn't that brand. They have Yasmin for about $32 a month, and you can buy them online from a UK pharmacy for about $20 a month, so that is a good savings. www.pharmania.com (only $10 postage for whole order and that is USD).

They say you can only buy 3 months at a time, so there might be some limit on that, although it could be only mailorder sales have that limit. I'd also wonder if you might have a potential problem if your prescription is not written out for the exact packaging formula they use over there (21 pills and no placebos rather than the 28 pill pkg sold in the US).

In France, pharmacists have a fair degree of latitude about filling prescriptions for common drugs if you have a copy of the prescription, or even, as happened with me, a copy of the bottle that held the pills I left at home. Drugs are often considerably less expensive than in the USA, as the government subsidizes the manufacturers in most cases.

<i>&quot;as the government subsidizes the manufacturers in most cases&quot;</i>

Quite the contrary, Underhill! The french goverment cuts a deal for each medication with its manufacturer - either the pharmaceutical company agrees to an acceptable price or the goverment will not take up the drug on the list of substances it reimburses. The manufacturer only gets what you pay in the pharmacy (minus the pharmacist's margin, of course)... As a French resident, you can then get the drug costs reimbursed by the state health insurance - the consumers are subsidized, not the manufacturers.

If someone is &quot;subsidizing&quot; the drug companies, it's US consumers, by paying the world's highest prices for their drugs!

BTW Yasmin/Jasmin is NOT on the list of reimbursed substances in France, so its price is not negotiated by the goverment.

Hope this helps,
Andre

Actually christina when i was under my parents health insurance they did pay for my BC (i had a copay of 12 for three monts worth) Some states do require that if an insurance company pays for other meds they have to pay for BC (but this is not the case in Pa ) Thanks everyone for you help! I think that as long as i have prescription i will be ok with customs.
HAPPY NEW YEAR