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[quote=”Doug Ward”]Find a Cuban trained doctor.[/quote]
Doug, how will the fact that a doctor was trained in Cuba enable him or her to write prescriptions which a U.S. pharmacy can legally honor? That physician would still have to be licensed in the U.S. and registered with the DEA, right? That’s the issue here, a U.S.-licensed and registered physician.
Or do physicians trained in Cuba automatically qualify for licensure in the U.S. and registration with the DEA regardless of where they live and practice? Are physicians in Cuba licensed and registered in the U.S.?
just in the last couple of days, i have heard three different accounts about mail-order drugs being confiscated by customs and that Aerocasillas will no longer accept and bring down medications, regardless of what they are. i would not be dependent on this system if i were you. the hassle of trying to get meds out of the aduana can be a nightmare in extremis, and you may also require a broker to release said meds, and by the time you add up all the aggravation, extra cost, travel time, broker, etc. you may not be saving one colon in getting those meds from the US.
maravilla, a couple of years ago, I had a bunch of prescription meds from my U.S. mail-order pharmacy held up by Customs or the Ministry of Health. They wanted a Costa Rican physician’s prescription for them. Fortunately, Dr. Gutrieman was able to help out.
I’ve since learned that ordering just one or two prescriptions at a time is more likely to get them through. The smaller quantities seem to attract less attention. And I’ve had no problems (so far) importing lots of five hundred glucometer test strips to monitor my blood sugar. Pray for me . . .
this is recent — as in just last week where Aerocasillas said they will NOT import meds, and if you can get them through another means, maybe you are safe, but not if it’s coming through a mail forwarding service.
I am very interested in following this conversation. I too am diabetic, but I am on an insulin pump. I have no problem getting insulin, but the pump requires infusion sets that are available only from Medtronic, which as of now has not expanded to Costa Rica. Since I am in CR only for 4 months, I try to stockpile my needs so that I don’t run out before I go back to the States. I’ve been lucky so far. By the way, David, are there no other glucose monitors that have strips that you can buy in CR? I can use only One touch since that is what works with my pump.
[quote=”Harperanne”] David, are there no other glucose monitors that have strips that you can buy in CR? I can use only One touch since that is what works with my pump.[/quote]
I use a OneTouch Ultra Mini, too. I get the strips from my mail-in pharmacy in the States in large quantities. Whether or not I’ll be able to continue getting them is an open question, so I stay stocked up.
Every pharmacy I’ve been in has had glucose monitors and test strips to sell. The question, as with so many things here, is whether they’ll be a reliable source in the future for strips for whatever monitor they’re selling today. One never knows.
Whenever someone is dependent upon a specific item to maintain their health, it’s critical to make arrangements to import it because the local supply may dry up at any time. Harperanne’s case is instructive. There are probably very, very few other people living in Costa Rica who use the Medtronic insulin pump she uses, so with a very small user base the likelihood of a reliable supply of infusion sets is in grave doubt.
Yesterday, I asked the office manager in the Grecia Aerocasillas office about importing medications from the U.S. He said that the U.S. physician would have to supply at least a prescription but probably also medical records to support the need for each medication.
Those documents would have to go to a Costa Rican physician who is affiliated with the CAJA who would then have to issue his or her own prescription.
Armed with that, you would go to the Ministry of Health to apply for an import license for each medication. How long getting that import license might take is anyone’s guess.
All this tells me that importing meds (including medical supplies like glucometer test strips, infusion sets, etc) may be more difficult in the future than it has been in the past. It may still be possible, however, to ship in small quantities which might not draw Customs’ attention. Who knows?
Were it mine to do, I’d be planning on obtaining the medications and medical supplies I need here in Costa Rice either from the CAJA (if they provide what’s needed) or from commercial sources. Otherwise, I’d rely on visitors to mule things in which may or may not be reliable or bring them in myself.
Aspiring retirees will want to consider these matters very carefully.
It might be important to remember that the laws regarding shipping pharmaceuticals into the U.S. have changed dramatically over the last five years so my guess is that this has also affected how drugs may be brought into Costa Rica from the U.S.
Offshore pharmaceuticals used to be a HUGE business here in Costa Rica but due to new legislation in the U.S., that game is over…
Scott
if i were a person who depended on a specific med/device that was not available here, or not easily attainable, i would consider moving somewhere else. the rules are only going to get stricter in the future, and i cannot imagine the nightmare it would be to have something you absolutely needed held up in the labyrinthine process of customs. 4 years ago i ordered an electric back massager. i got it on sale on amazon for $20. With shipping through aerocasillas the tab went up to $35. but then. . . aerocasillas informed me that customs was holding the massager and insisted i get a permit from the ministerio de salud and pay the additional $100 in customs fees. i told them to keep it and that was the last time i ordered anything that could be confiscated by the aduana. a back massager? import permit from the ministerio de salud? who knew???
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