Shipping Medications to the U.S.

[DavidCMurray]

Friends who returned to the U.S. yesterday left behind some medications they’d purchased here with the intention of taking them back. These are meds which would require a physician’s prescription in the U.S. but which are available over-the-counter in Costa Rica.

Has anyone had any experience sending medications like these to the U.S.? If yes, did you use the Costa Rican Correo? UPS? FedEx? DHL? Aerocasillas? Or how did you do it?

And did you succeed?

If someone has done this, do you know if the recipient in the U.S. had any problems with U.S. Customs?

Or, what are the importation restrictions on medications for personal use? I know you can bring back a ninety-day supply with you when you return to the States, but what if they’re shipped in?

Any insights would be appreciated.

[mixuone]

I don’t know if this will help you or not but I have a lot of friends that have ordered diet pills from many countries and have never had a problem with receiving them. They usually arrive in a plain package and the pill bottles are usually wrapped in bubble wrap or sometimes in a smaller cardboard box within the shipping package. I know they have gotten them from Brazil and Bolivia recently.

[acmilan40]

I would think you could mail anything that is legal in CR to the States with no-prob and if the party you are mailing to has a prescription I would think it would be ok on both ends… The problem is on the US side with customs… My friends uncle used to buy anabolics from europe and had received a couple letters from customs just telling him it has been confiscated and he was supposed to call if it was a mistake (obviously he did not call)… This was about 3 years ago and nothing ever came of it but things might have changed since then… I think as long as it is a small amount, i dont think they are going to waste their time and resources but you might want to get check with someone that has first hand experience in this matter…

[DavidCMurray]

Well, here’s what I’ve learned.

Aerocasillas will ship meds to the U.S. but only if you bring them in person to their offices in Heredia or La Uruca. Then, you must pay an additional $8.00US fee, complete a form from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, and have a physician’s prescription. They didn’t say if the prescription had to be written by a U.S. or Costa Rican doctor. Needless to say, this is not an attractive option.

So we took the package to the Correo where, for about c3,600 they shipped it to Minnesota via normal handling. There was no question about the contents, and to avoid getting involved more deeply I did not put a return address on the box. The remaining question will be to see if it actually arrives.

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