sticker shock

[cellio]

Good heavens. I had not realized that list price for my allergy medicine is almost $3/day. (My co-pay, fortunately, is 50 cents/day.) C'mon, guys; develop generics! Besides, it would lower my co-pay a bit. :-)

Fortunately, I do not take allergy drugs year-round -- just for about 6 weeks in the summer, starting soon. I have mild allergy symptoms for longer, but I tend to develop immunities to allergy drugs after a while, and I'd rather not do that again.

Comments

[rectangularcat]

You know, last time I tried to quit claritin, I started having a sun allergy. Argh. Well now in the winter, I taper the dosage off to one every two or three days but I don't want to have that red rash again!

It's amazing how expensive that stuff is in the States. I buy Zyctec for my mom (really for my step-dad and siblings) here (it's over the counter) and mail it to them (I physically cross the border and mail it from Blaine, WA). It's 50% of the price her insurance would reimburse her for (25$ CDN for 48 pills of 10mg).

I know Claritin is over the counter now for you, but still it is outrageously priced compared to how much I can get it here for! Weird eh?

[cellio]

Back when I had a prescription for Seldane, I rarely filled it here. Instead, I bought it over-the-counter in Toronto. I figured that if challenged at the border I could just mention my prescription. Since I could legally get it in the US, I didn't think this was drug-smuggling. :-)

In truth, while I paid less over the counter than I did via insurance co-pay, the real reason I wanted the Canadian Seldane was that in the US I got these huge tablets to take twice a day, while in Canada I could buy nice coated one-a-day capsules that went down without any hassles. I have a strong gag reflex; these things matter.

[rectangularcat]

Well considering a lot of pharmacies ship medications to the states, I think it's even legal!

[cellio]

What's legal for corporations isn't necessarily legal for consumers, however. There could be rules on the books that say that individuals moving controlled substances across the border are breaking the law, even if a reasonable person would say this case is ok. I was betting that if I was ever challenged, I'd get a warning (once) and then I probably wouldn't do that any more. Now, it's not an issue because even though those Seldane capsules are otherwise attractive, I'm not going to try to bring in something that wouldn't otherwise be legal for me to have here.

[kellev.livejournal.com]

Is Claritin over the counter for you in Canada?

[rectangularcat]

Yes, it's been OTC since 93 or 94, I remember being upset about that as I had to pay more for it than my insurance copay! (2$ for an entire prescription with my university health plan at the time)

Re:

[kellev.livejournal.com]

How much does a box of 20 pills cost in Canada?

[rectangularcat]

I get generic 10 mg claritin - 72 pills for 10$ canadian.

The real Claritin is about 16$ for 24 or 36 I can't remember which. I haven't bought it in ages since the generic stuff works very well for me.

Re:

[kellev.livejournal.com]

*gasp*

[jducoeur]

There are alternatives to Claritin nowadays. IIRC, there's a company on the Web called something like Blue Sky Pharmacy (in Canada) that sells a generic Loratadine by mail cheaply enough that even with the postage it's much cheaper. And my supermarket now carries a generic knockoff called Alavert that's about half the price of Claritin...

[rectangularcat]

I just get the generic stuff from the Real Canadian Superstore (Loblaws owned). I get 72 pills for less than 10$.