Do you have any advice on how to find trusted pharmacies to refill medication prescriptions in Canada?

Answer:

In 2002, ConsumerLab.com's founder, Tod Cooperman, M.D., started a second company, PharmacyChecker.com, to evaluate pharmacies in Canada and elsewhere which sell to Americans online. It has become the major, independent source of information on this subject.

You can use the PharmacyChecker.com website to find online pharmacies approved and monitored through the PharmacyChecker Verification Program. You can also compare drug prices from those pharmacies as well as discounted prices offered at U.S. pharmacies. Prices on brand name medications are often 80% lower through international mail order than at U.S. pharmacies because governments in other countries negotiate and/or limit prices on medicine.

Most online pharmacies work with licensed pharmacies in multiple counties, allowing you to find and chose the lowest price around the world -- which might be from a pharmacy in England, for example, rather than Canada. Depending on the location of the dispensing pharmacy, it typically takes about two to four weeks for you to receive your medication. Pharmacies approved through the PharmacyChecker Verification Program require a valid prescription from your doctor and are not permitted to market controlled substances, such as a narcotics, to Americans.

Be aware that, technically, it remains illegal for you to get your medication from outside the U.S. However, the U.S. government has not prosecuted Americans who do this for themselves (buying no more than a 3-month supply), and an estimated 4 million Americans get their medication this way. For more information, go to www.PharmacyChecker.com.