| U.S.
Health Experts Say Caveat Emptor on
South-of-Border Prescription Drugs by
Nancy A. Melville
 You
can see the signs before you even cross the border from the U.S. into Mexico --
farmacias pitching prescription drugs for a fraction of the price you'd
have to pay from where you're standing. Travel
further south into any given Mexican tourist town and it's hard to turn a corner
without encountering farmacia signs touting cut-rate prices on everything
from Viagra to Valium. So if it's cheap, easy and allowable, why not pick up an
extra bottle of medicine that may someday come in handy?
In
many cases, such bargains can indeed be worthwhile, and if you're one of the many
uninsured Americans, hundreds of dollars may be saved.
Furthermore,
as long as the drug isn't a controlled substance, such as a narcotic, U.S. Customs
allows you to bring back as much as a three-month supply of a medication without
a prescription. Even if it is a controlled substance that you want, Customs will
let you bring in up to 50 dosage units without a prescription.
But
that doesn't mean it's with their blessing.
In
fact, most public health experts in the U.S. are united in their warnings of caveat
emptor: "When it comes to going outside of the United States to buy prescription
drugs, the message we really want to get to consumers is 'buyer beware',"
stresses a spokesman for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
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