Buying insulin while in Canada

Michel
Mon, 25 Dec 2017 18:10:51 +0000
Insulin

We have been in Canada for not quite a week, in Quebec province first in Montreal then in Quebec City. We have purchased insulin in 4 different pharmacies in two different cities. Much of what I thought I knew is not quite correct, so I felt it was worth it to share what I found out:

You do not need a prescription to buy insulin. But many pharmacists don’t know that. If they refuse to sell insulin without a prescription, tell them to please look it up: there is no need for a prescription.

While it is much cheaper than in the US, it is quite a bit more expensive than we had discussed on this forum. A few months ago, I reported that, on Twitter, a US user had said that a vial of insulin costs $16CAN: that is not true. A PENFILL (cartridge for a pen) costs about that much for quick acting insulin.

There are significant price differences between pharmacies. We have bought quick acting insulin for $70CAN to $90CAN per box of 5 penfills, depending on the pharmacy. We have found Montreal pharmacies, on average, to be cheaper than Quebec City pharmacies.

You can get a free pen every time you buy a box of insulin.

It is possible to buy Lantus in penfills, something we can’t do in the US. For that, you need a Clickstar pen.

There is essentially no difference in insulin price between vials and penfills when adjusted for number of units.

Lantus cost us between $125CAN and $140CAN per box of 5 penfills. We have bought (or been quoted) Humalog, Novolog and FIASP for $70CAN to $90CAN per box of 5 penfills.

We have not found a pharmacy that stocks FIASP. You need to order it, which takes approximately 2 business days.

When you buy insulin, many pharmacies will ask to open a “folder” (“dossier”) on you. There is no harm in it but it is not necessary, since it is only needed for insurance purposes. Once I has figured it out, I said everytime that I did not need one.

In Canada, Novolog is named NovoRapid.

As a reminder, it us 100% legal to buy insulin in Canada, but bringing it back to the US has severe limitations, which we discussed in many threads here. I cannot post a link to them because I am on my phone. Essentially, it is illegal to bring insulin sold in the US back home, and insulin unavailable in the US (FIASP) requires a prescription and is maxxed at 3 months of supply. So buyer beware:-)

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