BUY YOUR DRUGS ON THE INTERNET! (Part 1) Randy Wicker Reporting
What happens when you decide to order "generic drugs" from India on the Internet? What happens when you order "perscription drugs" on the Internet from an American-based pharmacy?
Randy Wicker shares his experiences, price comparisons included. Perhaps you take a risk. Sometimes, you pay a lot more (in the USA).
But buying "druigs" or having your perscriptions filled on the Internet has both pluses and minuses.
This is a rare and real report by someone who ordered two or three different drugs from companies in the USA and in India aftwer his perscriptions expired.
posted by Randolfe Wicker at 9:17 PM
1 Comments:
I am frequently asked for references on buying drugs over the Internet and this movie is a great answer. All I have to say is that you have guts!
Until the new Medicare Prescription Drug program screwed things up, I've been buying drugs from Canada because their government negotiates the price down (Medicare is forbidden to negotiate prices by law! and Medicare drugs cost more than Veterans Administration drugs that are negotiated for price). The drug companies are ripping off Americans. Unfortunately, if you want to get any benefit from Medicare Part D, you have to buy in America and the savings are not easy to figure out. What pisses me off is that our Congress has written the laws to benefit the drug companies by using the excuse that "you can't trust those Canadian drugs!" What my doctor told me is that if you buy from a licensed Canadian Pharmacy, the drugs have complete traceability back to the manufacturer and there is no risk in taking them. He noted that the generic drugs from India are usually OK, but of course can't be traced because they are made in India, as one of your drugs sources bragged about.
I have also noticed that in many cases the Internet prices are several time higher than if you get a legal prescription and fill it at the corner drugstore. I suspect this is because the secondary market knows you have little choice if you don't have a prescription.
Your statement that you can contest charges is not completely true (as I found out the hard way). If you read the U.S. laws that govern bank credit cards, banks are only required by law to refund you all but $50 of LOCAL purchases and NOT mail-order purchases. In practice, most banks will do it anyway as a courtesy if they think you are a good customer. I was stiffed on a Canadian order and my former bank told me "tough luck" unless I was willing to prove it was a fraud case. If I went this route, they told me they would cancel my credit card immediately, which I didn't want to do since I have many things tied to it. (Since then, I have opened separate cards I use only for mail-order for these kinds of situations - but I've been told doing this will lower my credit rating).
Finally, I was fascinated to see the shipping envelopes you got. At least from Canada, I have found it to be a crap shoot whether or not US Customs opens the package and then seizes it for being illegal contraband. I suspect the India newspaper, gift-wrapping and hand written envelopes were intended to bypass custom inspections. What I learned the hard way is that you are out of luck when they seize your package. A Canadian vendor said "tough luck," but consented to give me a replacement at half price.
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