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Frequently Asked Questions Why are Canadian medications more affordable?
Q: Do I need to provide a prescription? Q: Why am I only allowed to order a maximum
of 3 months supply of medication? Q: Why do you encourage purchasing a 3 months
supply as compared to monthly? Q: How long will my order take to process? Q: Why do some orders take longer to process? Q: Are Canadian medications comparable to those
sold in the U.S.? Q: What is the advantage of ordering generic
drugs? Q: Are generic drugs as good as brand name drugs? Q: Are all the drugs sold in the U.S. available
in Canada? Q: What method of payment do you accept? Q: Am I required to pay U.S. duties? Q: Are there any additional charges? Q: Can my family member's order be shipped
together with my order? Q: Can I use my insurance? Q: Is my personal information protected? Safety and Regulatory Frequently Asked Questions Q: What makes the Canadian drug wholesale system inherently safer than the U.S. system? Canadian wholesalers are federally licensed and there are far fewer
of them in Canada than the U.S., where wholesalers are State licensed.
There are only about 15 major Canadian wholesalers compared to several
hundred in the U.S. Most importantly, Canadian wholesalers do not
engage in the practice of re-packaging, re-labeling and re-mixing
drugs as do many of their U.S. counterparts. In almost all cases
the Canadian wholesalers obtain product in the original manufacturer's
container, which includes tamper evident seals, and simply passes
this container on to the retail pharmacy for distribution to the
American patient. This is a major safety feature of the Canadian
mail-order system. With fewer wholesalers and fewer points of distribution,
combined with sealed containers, the Canadian wholesale network
offers virtually no opportunity to introduce counterfeit, tainted
or diluted medications. Q: What restrictions do Canadian mail-order pharmacies place on the kinds of drugs that it ships to U.S. patients? Licensed Canadian pharmacies will not ship any Schedule 1-5 controlled substances like narcotics or habit forming medications like benzodiazepines. Even medications with complicated dosing schedules, severe side effects or complex lab follow-ups, are avoided. Acute care medications like antibiotics are not sold due to the need to acquire these medications within hours of diagnosis to positively affect therapeutic outcomes. Therefore, the vast majority of products are chronic maintenance medications like anti-hypertensives, lipid-lowering, acid reflux, anti-inflammatory, hormone and other products that are taken on a long term chronic basis. Some over-the-counter products are sold as well like Claritin and Reactine. Where possible, the patient is offered the choice between brand name or generic equivalents. Q: Can Canadian pharmacies execute recalls of products as required by the FDA or the manufacturer? Any and all recalls for Canadian medications would be initiated by the Health Protection and Food Branch of Health Canada in conjunction with the drug manufacturer. All Canadian Mailorder pharmacies are capable and fully compliant with any level of recall order because they are licensed and thus are on the recall distribution list. Each pharmacy keeps accurate records of their patients and can readily contact their patients as necessary to initiate a product recall. (back to top) Q: Where are drugs approved for sale in Canada manufactured? Health Canada approved drugs are manufactured in facilities all over the world that meet strict Therapeutic Products Directorate criteria. These criteria are called "good manufacturing processes" or GMP's. Most of these facilities are also FDA approved because they make drugs for distribution to the United States. Many companies choose to manufacture out of Puerto Rico due to lower labor costs and corporate tax breaks. Manufacturing also occurs in the United States and in many other G7 countries like England, Germany and France. (back to top) Q: How can Canadian mail-order pharmacies be accredited for quality and safety and who should perform these accreditations? Canadian pharmacies already comply with all standards required to obtain their provincial licenses. However, if American citizens would like even greater quality assurances, it would be appropriate for an independent U.S. based commission to inspect, assess and accredit the pharmacies using a rigorous set of quality control standards that encompass all aspects of pharmacy operation. The FDA has chosen not to perform such assessments and continues to deny independent commissions the ability to perform such assessments despite the fact that they continually warn Americans that purchasing products from Canada is a "buyer beware" situation. Canadian mail-order pharmacies welcome any other quality standards that U.S. authorities feel are necessary. It should be noted that the FDA has not placed any special quality
control standards on American mail-order pharmacies other than their
State pharmacy license. These pharmacies have not been the target
of FDA criticism yet they lack any enhanced quality control oversight
beyond their license requirements. Q: Why does such a large price difference exist between drugs from Canada and drugs from the United States? Drug prices in Canada are negotiated by the Patent Medicine Price Review Board (PMPRB) which is an element of Health Canada. Lower drug acquisition costs are rewarded with the granting of extended patent lives. The PMPRB sets and restricts price increases based on an index system of other countries and rates of inflation. The Provincial Governments in turn put pricing pressure on the pharmaceutical companies by giving preferential formulary coverage to more affordable medications. Direct to consumer advertising is not permitted in Canada and thus reduces the cost of marketing drugs in Canada. Finally, the difference in the exchange rate between the two currencies helps to provide additional margin when goods are charged in American dollars. (back to top) Attention: Nexus Drug Store requires that all new orders must have the original Prescription mailed in before the order can be processed. All refills can be faxed, e-mailed, or Phoned in.
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