Sourcing analog insulin in Canada
Can we legally purchase analog insulin in Canada?
Since the 1950s, some individuals, organizations and even state governments have been purchasing prescription medicine from Canada, where prices are much lower than in the US. WebMD has an excellent write-up on it:
In summary, it is probably legal to import up to 3 months worth of prescribed drugs that are unavailable in the US, but it is probably illegal to import insulin, since it is available in the US. However, the FDA has made public the decision not to pursue enforcement against individuals who order medicine for their own use and in moderate quantities, although they could change their mind in the future. In the meantime, probably tens or hundreds of thousands of patients in the US do so. Per US common law, this very decision of the FDA makes the practice of importing insulin closer to legal. It is possible that upcoming laws will make importing drugs from Canada 100% legal—but that is not true today. Many thousands of patients have been ordering medicine from Canada for years: we have not heard of any, ordering (a) for themselves only and (b) in reasonable quantities (typically 3 months) that has run into trouble.
So it is possible today to import Canadian insulin in 3-months quantities and expect that the FDA will not enforce any prohibition against it.
Will it arrive intact and in a timely manner?
Since the drugs still have to go through customs, the time it takes for them to arrive can vary, based on reported experiences, between a few days and a couple of weeks. Insulin is shipped from Canada in insulated packages, but may arrive at environmental temperature if enough time has passed. At the same time, we don’t know of anyone who has reported damaged insulin shipments from Canada due to temperature degradation. It does not mean this has never happened—although the many experiments made on temperature degradation by the denizens of this forum make this unlikely.
Where to order from?
In the past, several of us have evaluated or compared online Canadian insulin providers. Based on past evaluations, and on our personal experiences, we decided to use Mark’s Marine Pharmacy, a Vancouver, BC brick and mortar pharmacy, as a reference pricing source when evaluating imports of Canadian insulin.
Reference: FDA FAQ on importing drugs into the US
(to be continued)