Seasonal Advice, Treatment and Prevention
Allergy Advisor - Seasonal Update  WINTER/ SPRING/ SUMMER/ FALL
Limiting Exposure to Allergens in the Home 
Prevention of Allergy and Asthma in Children
Treatment of Allergy and Asthma
Skin Testing and Allergy Injection Treatment
Inhalers for Asthma
Spacers for Asthma Inhalers
Inhalers for Rhinitis
Tricks for - children to swallow pills
                  - eye drops
Mexican Medications

Medications from Mexico

Many drugs licensed in the USA are also available in Mexico, and some of them are marketed by a company with a name virtually identical to that of the supplier in the USA.   If you have no prescription plan or the drugs that you need are not covered by your plan, you may be tempted to buy them in Mexico, where most medications are much less costly than the same product in the USA.  Cost savings for recently approved drugs in the US are usually much less than for drugs that have been on the market in the US for a long time.  Before crossing the border for this purpose, consider the following:

1)     Talk to your prescribing physician before doing this   -  there may be reasons why the Mexican drug is not a proper substitute for the prescribed US product.  Do not buy prescription medications in Mexico without your doctor's approval. 

2)     Ask your doctor for a written prescription for the generic name of the drug, and, if possible, the Mexican trade name of that drug.  Always take prescriptions with you to Mexico and purchase no more than 3 month's supply at a time (for yourself only).  Keep the prescriptions to show to the U.S. Customs on your return (for more information check the US Customs site, go to travel alerts, then medications/drugs).   Recent legislative changes allow importation of certain FDA-approved drugs, in certain cases without prescription (for details, see the FDA site).    At the US port of entry you must have kept the drugs in their original sealed containers and you must declare them.   If the Mexican trade name and the US trade name are not the same, get expert advice on the exact equivalence of the generic ingredient names.  Generic names of drugs in Mexico are similar but not exactly the same as the U.S. generic name ( for example, loratadine [U.S.] = loradatina [Mex.], and chlorpheniramine [U.S.] = clorfenamina [Mex.] ). 

3)     The trade names of a drug made by a given company for sale in different countries are often different:   for instance, fluticasone made by Glaxo is sold as Flovent in the US and Flixotide in Mexico.

4)     Most of the large pharmaceutical companies that market drugs in the US are multinational corporations that supply the active ingredients of the medication for repackaging and sale in many countries including Mexico.   In most cases the active ingredients of preparations sold in the US and Mexico are identical and manufactured to the same international manufacturing standards of purity and consistency.

5)     Drugs obtainable in Mexico are not necessarily inferior to comparable products in the US.   Some of the products available in Mexico but not in the US are actually superior to those available here for the same indication,  but other unique Mexican products are hazardous and would never be licensed here.

6)     Be very careful to be sure that the strength of the drug that you get in Mexico is the one prescribed by your doctor.  For instance, you may be prescribed Flovent 110, but Flixotide in Mexico comes as a 50 mcg/puff inhaler (less than half the potency).

7)     Additives that many preparations contain to ensure proper delivery of the drug to the body, as well as coloring and flavoring, are frequently different from those used in the US preparations.  Differences in these additives and/or delivery systems may be (but not necessarily) important in determining drug safety and  efficacy.

8)     A  service known as Prescription Express that has qualified pharmacists on staff can assist patients from Phoenix and Tucson in filling prescriptions in Nogales Sonora.   Phone (520) 886-8800), e-mail rx-xpress@gci-net.com, P.O. Box 17049, Tucson AZ 85731.
They also have a mail order service: see www.rx-xpress.com

Bibliography
Diccionario de Especialidades Farmaceuticas.  Ediciones PLM, Thomson Healthcare, Mexico. 
Physician's Desk Reference.  Medical Economics, Montvale NJ. 

Back

Disclaimer:   This site is for educational purposes only.  Any information that you have found in this web site is not intended to replace medical care or advice given to you by your own physicians. You should consider consulting your local medical library and other web sites for additional information. 

Comments and suggestions welcome!   Email: schumach@u.arizona.edu
Content Owner:  Michael J. Schumacher, MB, FRACP, The University of Arizona
Updated 10/2003