Wellness

[Drythe]

@NeNe1010 

Sorry you encountered this problem.

DH was involved with a medication monitoring study which specifically broke down and studied medication made in Canada.  In the 2 year time period, there were 0 failures.

I agree ‘Made in Turkey’ was a flag.

[Carmie]

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@NeNe1010 wrote:

The agent who we consulted with told me no insurance co would cover it as there is a generic alternative. For some reason the generic does not work for me. I thought the Canadian pharmacy was a good alternative. The weird thing is the pharmacy was Canadian but the med was from Turkey? That should have been a red flag for me. The med was Lexapro, an antidepressant so I really got myself in a mess.

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Your agent was incorrect.  Almost all insurance companies will require you to buy a generic if available for very expensive non-preferred drugs.  If you cannot take the generic version, you must request approval.  The approval usually lasts for one year and you must make the request again.

Often, insurance companies will require you to try up to three generic drugs before you will get approval for non preferred drugs.  If you are ever denied a drug, contact your doctor and the insurance company to get instruction of how to get an approval.

[patbz]

@skatting44 :  I'm not sure but I think the rules have changed since your Mom opted not to take Medicare (and used her private insurance).  My understanding is that Medicare pays what they will cover and then your private insurance (if you have it) pays the rest.  If you don't opt into Medicare you miss out on 80% they cover and your supplemental still only pays 20%.  If this wasn't the case, your supplemental would cost much more.  The two forms of insurance are coordinated benefits not "you pick what you want to use".

[Lilysmom]

@NeNe1010 , sorry you are having this issue.  I am Canadian.  Medications are highly regulated in Canada,

One of the emerging issues in Canada is drug shortages as non Canadians are purchasing medications from Canada.  Just a heads up to those who use the service.  What usually follows an issue like this is regulation to tighten access.  LM

[chrystaltree]

The lesson to be learned from OP's post is don't think you know it all.  While most insurance companies will only allow generics, there is always an approval process for patients who cannot take the generic form of a medication.  The prescribing physician documents the clinical rationale for the brand name drug and requests preauthorization. I had to use that process for my thyroid medication.     

[kitty60]

I have ordered through Canadia pharmacies but I don't think they are all legit.  You need to do your homework.  

[BriggsiePeawiggle]

I have buying Nexium from a Canadian Pharmacy for a long time. It is spelled differently because it was made in Sweden by Astra Zeneca. Otherwise it is the same drug. No problems whatsoever and I didn't have to sell my soul to purchase it when it was dropped from our insurance.

[JumpTheRope]

Most drugs are manufactured in India/China, by American (global really)

companies.

Then they sell the exact same product to Canada as they do to the USA, but far cheaper....then we Americans buy them back from Canada!

 WE AMERICANS pay the highest prices for drugs, even though many are discovered through OUR tax payer funded RnD/NIH.

The patent for the drug is sold for pennies on the dollar to a PRIVATE

Big Pharmaceutical manufacturer.

So what is American’s “Return on Investments” ( in discovering/funding the RnD of medicines?)

We pay up the behind, while other countries reap the benefits.

(btw, it was a 60-minutes type program from several years ago that exposed  all this....and more).

[NeNe1010]

The drug from the Canadian pharmacy was labeled Celexa and underneath that name was the generic name for Lexapro and it was misspelled. The prescription faxed to the pharmacy by my MD said Lexapro and DAW, dispense as written. No generic so I’m not sure what happened. I should have taken the first supply my MD to make sure all was right. Lesson learned. My MD said he had never had that happen to any of his other patients getting drugs from Canada. I just wanted to share my story so people would contact their MD right away if something doesn’t seem right.