Bringing medication across the border: What are the rules?

Has anyone here dealt with buying medication abroad and bringing it across the border?

Basically, next summer I need to pick up a few packs of NEO_REKORMON 2000 from the Netherlands and bring them over to the US.

I'll have a letter from the patient advocacy group, a valid prescription, and all the medical records.

Is this actually doable? And if it is, what else am I going to need to make sure I don't run into trouble?

If you know anything at all, please just post it here. Any info helps.🙂
My uncle and I would really appreciate the help.🙂

Morning. I’ve flown back and forth between the States and home more times than I can count while hauling my medications along... being a chronic patient means I always have to travel with my own supplies. To be honest, nobody ever even asked me for paperwork. For the first time, I actually went through the trouble of getting a signed note from my doctor, but once I realized that absolutely nobody was checking or bothering to ask, I just stopped pestering my physician for those certificates. It felt like a waste of time.

I reckon you should be fine... I mean, what else would you realistically need? But then again, I’m hardly an expert on customs regulations.

My family and I have crossed plenty of borders all over Europe carrying various medications—mostly our own stuff, though we frequently carried supplies for my grandmother—and honestly, we’ve never run into a single issue. Nobody ever grilled us about it; we either had the prescriptions handy to prove what they were, or we didn't even need to show anything at all...
I actually expected some kind of headache when we traveled to the USA because we had to bring along injections, but even then, nobody asked us a single question... I'm just not sure if we just got lucky or if that was some kind of fluke.

Right? That would be absolutely amazing! 🙂
Only thing is, these meds aren't for me—they're for my uncle. How am I supposed to prove to them that I'm not just trying to skirt the law? It's hard to get through to people when they've already made up their minds.

Betty Hill82 said:Right? That would be absolutely incredible! 🙂
Look, I’m not even the one taking these meds—they're for my uncle. How am I supposed to convince them that I’m not just out here trying to flip them for profit? It feels like they've already made up their minds, and honestly, it's like trying to argue with a brick wall.

Since nobody actually bothered to ask us anything, I’m really not sure what we were even supposed to provide. If my grandmother had sent us some medicine from back home, all we would have had to show for it was a prescription and the simple fact that it came from her. Honestly, I don't know if that would have been enough to satisfy someone who was dead set on pestering us.
Get on the phone with the consular services office back home—you know, your local embassy or whatever branch handles your specific situation—and just ask them directly what they recommend you do.

Alright, I'll reach out to the embassy...

I still have a million questions, so hopefully they can actually help me out. It also just occurred to me that I could get in touch with the kidney disease association here in the Netherlands. They’ll probably have some useful info too.

Thanks, nimbleskipper17 and darkbison81.

🙂

Can anyone tell me if it's okay to bring certain meds from Canada into the US, and if there's a limit? Specifically looking at stuff like Prostamol una and Detralex. Also, what's the deal with bringing over hygiene supplies like Band-Aids, bandages, and things like that?

Hey there!

hollowgardener50 said:Can anyone tell me if it's okay to bring certain meds from Canada into the US, and if there's a limit? Specifically looking at stuff like Prostamol una and Detralex. Also, what's the deal with bringing over hygiene supplies like Band-Aids, bandages, and things like that?

Hey there!

Basically, any medication officially registered here in the States can be brought in legally, subject to standard customs value limits. I'm not entirely sure what the specific dollar threshold is when coming from Canada.
As for meds that aren't registered locally, they can only be brought in through official pharmacy channels via emergency imports, and you absolutely need a prescription for them.
Trying to import them yourself on your own is illegal.

Angela Wright said:Basically, any medication officially registered here in the States can be brought in legally, subject to standard customs value limits. I'm not entirely sure what the specific dollar threshold is when coming from Canada.
As for meds that aren't registered locally, they can only be brought in through official pharmacy channels via emergency imports, and you absolutely need a prescription for them.
Trying to import them yourself on your own is illegal.

So, basically, my dad can't just pick up his meds here and mail them over to Germany because I don't feel like driving all the way back to his doctor right now?

What’s the current deal regarding traveling with your own prescription medication? I mean, does it actually matter if the box has been opened?

Matthew Jackson2 said:What’s the current deal regarding traveling with your own prescription medication? I mean, does it actually matter if the box has been opened?

You’re going to need a doctor's note.

brightlynx28 said:So, basically, my dad can't just pick up his meds here and mail them over to Germany because I don't feel like driving all the way back to his doctor right now?

Where exactly are we talking about? Canada? If you're trying to ship from Canada, it's a non-starter unless the pharmacy is registered within the EU.
If it's coming from America, everything is fair game since we're part of the EU.

I'm currently in the States. Honestly, I'm worried the dogs might pick up something weird, or there could be some actual issues at the border—either way, I really don't have the energy to spend my time wandering through hospital hallways here.

brightlynx28 said:I'm currently in the States. Honestly, I'm worried the dogs might pick up something weird, or there could be some actual issues at the border—either way, I really don't have the energy to spend my time wandering through hospital hallways here.

Look, you live in the EU—borders aren't really a thing anymore. But if we're talking about stuff like phenobarbital or Normabals, for instance, and the cops pull you over on the road in the States or anywhere else in Europe with those in your pocket, you absolutely have to be able to prove they were prescribed by a doctor.

Angela Wright said:Look, you live in the EU—borders aren't really a thing anymore. But if we're talking about stuff like phenobarbital or Normabals, for instance, and the cops pull you over on the road in the States or anywhere else in Europe with those in your pocket, you absolutely have to be able to prove they were prescribed by a doctor.

It's not like I'm planning on lugging them around on me—I take quite a bit of stuff, but mostly just in the morning and before bed, so it shouldn't really be an issue.

Patients really need to have their medical records handy to prove that the doctor actually prescribed this specific treatment.
The medication itself has to be in its original packaging—you know, the actual box, the blister pack, or the bottle...

And honestly, usually nobody gives you any grief about it, whether you're over in Denmark or right here in the States.🍿