Originally Posted by exerda
When I've traveled abroad, I've asked my doctor for prescriptions for anything I need to travel with, "just in case." But, of course, that requires the annoying step of visiting his office before travel to get them.
I have been able to hang onto a written prescription before, but only such as when the doctor has faxed or e-mailed it to the pharmacy AND given me a written one. As xyzzy points out, for the majority of people and the majority of prescriptions, this is going to be a huge hassle. Not to mention that most people who were already traveling probably had no way of getting in to see their doctors on this short of notice. Maybe some were lucky enough to have the doc fax it to them or leave it with the office receptionist... maybe.
So foreign tourists and visitors who entered the U.S. before the alleged terror plot unraveled will have to surrender or check their drugs when they try to fly back to their home countries or continue to other destinations within or outside the U.S., because they obviously won't have any drugs with their name on it (in countries like Germany, there ARE no drugs with patient names on it, probably due to privacy concerns). So these people (diabetics, folks with asthma, allergies, heart conditions etc.) now have to fly (usually longhaul with additonal connections that can easily surpass 24hs) w/o their medication or find a doctor prescribing all the drugs again, pay for the doctor and the drugs and hope for the best. Let's just hope all those tourists have the money, time and language skill to pull this off. Happy vacation!