Tips for buying drugs abroad

Prescription drugs purchased from Canada and other industrialized countries can be up to 55 percent cheaper than in the U.S. But, says Larry O’Donnell, executive director of Global Medicine Assist (medicineassist.org), which provides information about reputable foreign pharmacies, medications bought abroad are not monitored by the FDA.

To help ensure that you are getting the medication you need, O’Donnell advises taking the following steps:

1. Inquire whether the drug distributor you are contacting abroad is a call center or a licensed pharmacy. Call centers commonly outsource their prescriptions, which means buyer beware. The drug you are ordering could come from an unknown source or be an import from Africa or China, countries with lax drug regulations.

2. If you’re ordering from a licensed pharmacy, ask what agency provided their license number. In Canada, for example, each province establishes its own licensing criteria. As with our FDA, Health Canada and the EMEA (European Agency for the Evaluation of Medicinal Products) monitor the distribution, safety and manufacturing of prescription drugs in Canada and the European Union, respectively. They also help prevent the importation of counterfeit drugs.

3. Check for contact information from the distributor. Reputable outlets are more likely to post mailing addresses and phone numbers.