Prescription drugs in Singapore?
 

I'm planning to take some Ambien with me on my long trip to SIN from ORD. What experience do any of you have with bringing prescription drugs into Singapore? Will I be fine with my name on the bottle and a note from the Dr?

Thanks!

You should be fine with that documentation. I would suggest not merging multiple drugs (legal of course) into a single bottle... just asking for trouble at that point.

I was there a couple months back and wanted to by some ibuprofen... I learned that it is considered a presecription only, however they could sell me 2 tablets per day with a low dose....

A bit different there than a trip to mex!

Is not most everything, thank goodness? :)

You are clearly correct "legally" speaking. OTOH: on my frequent trips to SIN, I 'merge' legal/prescribed meds into one bottle as a space saving measure.
None of these are narcotic (if you don't count Ambien) - and I've never even seen a Customs Officer when we land at near midnite. YMMV

Best, Dave

Guidance for Visitors to Singapore (Regulatory Requirements for Bringing Personal Medicines into Singapore)

http://www.hsa.gov.sg/html/consumer/...sonal_med.html

Thanks for the "heads-up" jhm.

Huh? :confused: I regularly buy ibuprofen, it's an OTC drug in Singapore -- not on the shelf, but dished out from behind it by pharmacists on demand, with no questions asked.

Drugs (even legal ones ;) ) are quite expensive in Singapore compared to Malaysia and Thailand though.

So is Immodium....Just make sure you don't need it on a Sunday morning! :eek:

Best, Dave

For real prescription only drugs (e.g. antibiotics) apart from very serious stuff like morphine, you can buy them from a pharmacy in Singapore as an "export sale" without requiring a doctor's prescription (but subject to the discretion of the individual pharmacist).

You have to show the pharmacist your foreign passport and your plane tix departing Singapore within (if I recall correctly) 48 hours.

It's meant of course to cover situations where you previously saw a doctor in your home country, am in Singapore for a short period (so no time to see a local doctor) and require further drugs which were prescribed to you by your doctor at home.

I have transited through Singapore 40ish times in the past 7 years and have never, not ever, been even remotely hassled by customs. In fact 9 times out of 10 there is no one there. Occassionally you seem them, but if you do they are random checks, and the targets are usually Indians I've noticed (for whatever reason).

A good friend of mine worked at immigration at Changi a few years back. He told me a few points about how things work:

Do not take the lack of visible customs at Changi as meaning you are not being closely watched... There are cameras EVERYWHERE and a wall of people watching them. Plus, luggage is periodically screened (i.e. x-rayed) behind the scenes before it gets to the belt.

If they deem you to be acting suspicious you will be grabbed at or before the luggage carrousel and taken to a back room. You probably wouldn't even notice it happening to someone. They come up to people quitely and say "excuse me sir, would you mind coming with us for a moment, sorry for the inconvenience ya", in typical Singapore politeness...

If your luggage is deemed suspicious, agents (most likely plain clothes but not necessarily) are waiting around the baggage area, watching for who takes the bag, and then off you go to a back room for interrgogation - Singapore style - always polite but death by hanging if you are found with even a sliver of heroin! I'm sure the Singaporeans even apologise as they release the trapdoor lol.

As for prescription drugs - I wouldn't worry about it. As for anything harder you'd have to be mentally retarded to even think about it.

Obtained Approval for Medication from Singapore Authorities
 

I went through the procedure to get controlled substances pre-approved prior to entry to Singapore and it was a totally painless and very efficient process. I completed the application found at this site: http://www.hsa.gov.sg/publish/hsapor...and_forms.html, sent a very simple letter with the medications listed for my doctor to put on his letterhead, included copies of my itinerary and passport and then emailed the whole thing to the Health Services Authority. Although they request 10 business days advance notice for applications, I received my approval letter within 24-hours. My application was for Ambien and a stimulant for AD/HD and there were no problems obtaining the approval. One thing to note is that prior approval is only required for "controlled substances" which they have listed on their website and other medications only require a doctor's letter or a copy of the prescription.

90210Flyer

God, SG's laws are ....ing scary. If I ever have to go there I'm going carry on only and shipping all my stuff if I have to move there.

Not that I intend to bring dope into Singapore because anyone with a double digit IQ is smarter than that, but god forbid if someone slips something into my baggage at the outbound airport I'm ....ed.

Any problem carrying Ambien on a connection (not leaving the airport)?

Headed to SIN in 2 weeks. I have several RX's meds and couple of those are controlled substances. Do you really need to bring copies of the prescription for EVERY medicine or just for control items? I have all my meds in their original bottles with the labels as given to my by the pharmacy, and my Doctor gave me a copy of the prescriptions, but just for the controlled ones because I did not think anyone would care about non controlled items like blood pressure medicines. I have tried the link it post upthread but it does not work. Thanks

I simply had my doctor's office print a list of my prescribed medications. I carry the actual medications in their original pharmacy bottles.

So far so good. That said, Singapore customs has only stopped me once in the last decade on a couple of dozen entries into the country, land, sea, and air, and that one time the inspection never even got to my medications. They seemed to be more interested in the magazine I was carrying. When they found it was the airline inflight magazine they pretty much lost interest.

Best of luck.