Medication Question
 

We are flying into the US from Australia in September. We both have some medication that we take daily. We thought we would pack it into one of our carry on cases as it is the one thing we would not like to lose. Do we need new prescriptions as well as new boxed medication and do we need a doctors letter stating the medication is necessary and why? Or, will just the new, boxed medication be fine?

You should have it in a labeled container, if you usually get say six months worth at a time, ask for a container labeled with the information for the smaller amount you are carrying.

From the know before you go brochure, available here:

http://www.cbp.gov/linkhandler/cgov/...eforeyougo.pdf

Medication
Rule of thumb: When you go abroad, take the medicines you will need, no more, no less. Narcotics and certain other drugs with a high potential for abuse— Rohypnol, GHB, and Fen-Phen, to name a few—may not be brought into the United States, and there are severe penalties for trying to do so. If you need medicines that contain potentially addictive drugs or narcotics (e.g., some cough medicines, tranquilizers, sleeping pills, antidepressants, or stimulants), do the following:
• Declare all drugs, medicinals, and similar products to the appropriate CBP official.
• Carry such substances in their original containers.
• Carry only the quantity of such substances that a person with that condition (e.g., chronic pain) would normally carry for his/her personal use.
• Carry a prescription or written statement from your physician that the substances are being used under a doctor's supervision and that they
are necessary for your physical well being while traveling.


While you probably won't need all the documentation, it's way better to have it and not need it then need it and not have it. How strict of course depends on what the medication is (not asking, just saying)

Thank you
 

Thank you for your post - I think what we will do then is take two months supply (we are going to be away for 6 weeks and that allows for any incident that would detain us) and carry a letter each from our doctor stating that the medications we carry are necessary for our wellbeing. We will carry them in their original boxes, unopened as they will not need to be opened until we arrive. Thank you for making all clear. Kind regards, Rosemary

I took my 72 year old Mum to the States last October for a month... she is on a number of medications daily.. and was understandably concerned about travelling/baggage etc..

She ended up carrying a letter from her GP outlining what drugs she had been prescribed.. and she carried enough for the whole trip in her carryon.. and an equal amount in her checked bag..

No problem anywhere......

I think your plan is a good one...^

I'll take that onboard!
 

I'll take your advice and pack all medication in one of our onboard bags. We will carry a small laptop and cameras in an onboard bag and will include all medication. My sisters advice has always been never put anything in your checked bag anything that would ruin your holiday or badly inconvenience it and medication would have to be number one! Thank you!

in addition to meds and scripts, i carry a script for my eyeglasses. a pickpocket in Rome took my wife's glasses once and we could not get replacements easily.

i carry my meds in a separate container in that attaches in my carryon. i have difficulty getting more than an 30 or 90 day supply for some of my meds.

GOOD idea on the glasses!!!!!!^

Glasses are often cheaper overseas, although in Roma YMMV on the cost.

If it's something you -really- need, whether it's a controlled substance or not, always bring a duplicate prescription just in case you lose it when in the states. If it's not a controlled substance, just the bottle + doc info on it usually suffices. If it becomes an issue, they have a pill database to check the brand names, official names and what the pills really look like so someone isn't smuggling Vicodin in a bottle for Penacillin.

Please note that docs and pharmacies in the US cannot honor foreign written prescriptions but in a pinch, it's better than having nothing at all.

Another thing I do is I seperate the pills between two bottles (same labeling) because if I lose one bottle somewhere, I always have a small amount for backup purposes.

Also, brand names are often different overseas than in the US although not in all cases. Most docs in the US write prescripts with the official medical name vs. the advertised name, may want to research if the brand name is the same in your home country as it is in the USA. Plus, most people don't know the official name but the brand name so if it differs, a doc could be confused.

Although it is a very good idea to have a physician's statement listing your prescriptions and doses, I will say that I have traveled all over the world with unlabeled meds pre-loaded into those weekly medicine dispensing boxes, and I have NEVER had a problem and have NEVER even been asked about them. Some of the meds are xray dense and certainly would be visible to screeners, but it has just not been an issue anywhere. Longest trip was three weeks with three weeks worth of meds.

It's usually not, but if it's a controlled substance then you really should have backup.

Everyone (basically) carries some pills like vitamins, OTC pain relievers like tylenol etc.

It's only customs who should care at the end of the trip, but if you got 600 unmarked pills, they may take an interest in what that is.

Prescriptions
 

Quote: "Please note that docs and pharmacies in the US cannot honor foreign written prescriptions but in a pinch, it's better than having nothing at all."

This is a bit of a worry - we'll have a hire car at times and there's no way we'll wander around a little town carrying all our medication (my husband has heart medication). It will be in our cases in the car. If the car gets stolen we're without medication as prescriptions can't be filled? Do we have to go to all the trouble of finding a doctor and get all new prescriptions and then get them filled at a chemist, claim all the costs on travel insurance? What a rigmarole that would be! Not that anyone will probably steal our car but I always like to go with the 'what if' factor. I suppose the prescriptions we carry will be considered documentation that we actually need the medication.

Great idea about the glasses, I'll carry notes from our optometrist but also a back up pair in the checked luggage.

Pretty much correct. By law in the US, a pharmacy will not honor a prescription request written by a foreign doctor. This is common virtually anywhere on the planet that has safeguards on their prescription med sales.

That being said, having a copy of what is prescribed will facilitate anything that needs to be prescribed here. It just would have to come off the prescription pad of a US doctor. Provided nothing fishy is going on (such as requesting oxycontin or anything that is a scheduled narcotic) then it won't be a large issue but more of a formality due to legal concerns.

I wouldn't be worried at all, even if your car is stolen, a meeting with a US Dr and a conference call/fax should fix everything.

This is why I recommend two sets of meds, one for emergencies and one for daily.