I also have a catastropic plan ($20/yr part “D” plan); other than rapa which I source from India, I use GoodRx for the few prescription things I take … statin, bp med, etc. Very reasonable costs for generic stuff.
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I just used GoodRx for my estradiol patches for the first time this week and got a great price on par with what I’ve been paying through inHouseChemist.
I use India as the cost-effective option.
Rapamycin in Hong Kong is $10 USD per 1 mg.
Rapamycin in India is $1.5 USD per 1 mg.
And of course grapefruit ‘juices’ cost savings even more.
Metformin in Hong Kong is $.30 USD per 500 mg, so I just buy that here.
I think I can also get Acarbose here for the same price as India. I will have to try that.
I can see that there is a risk ordering prescription medication from India. I ordered three different meds, but my Paypal invoice for the transaction is for 3 Tee shirts. Kinda shady, but I have found that the Rapamycin from this vendor is legit.
Perhaps I should not have posted this thread when I was annoyed. Since we were leaving for a trip, I began the day by doing my taxes. Then I attacked the medical bills sorting the ones that were already paid from the ones that I had paid more than once, or the bills that were coded incorrectly. Then I sorted these bills by whether I needed to contact the provider, or the insurance company.
So I was in a cheerful mood when I went to the pharmacy and came away empty handed. Btw. My wife’s cardiologist came through and I picked up a thirty day supply of Metropolol today. They never allow more than thirty days worth out of fear that my wife will sell her pills on the street corner or something.
Modern medicine is full of miracle and wonder, and I do try to respect the miracle workers, but the red tape is nuts sometimes. Katherine Eban’s book mentions that much of the medication sold in the US comes from India anyway, but the supply chain for branded drugs is often more direct and transparent. I do wish there was a cash option for almost all medical care. I will try to remember to be thankful for the options that I have.
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A recent news story I saw today on this topic:
For a nation that seeks to claim the mantle of “pharmacy to the world,” India is scandalously short on regulatory oversight. In the last six months alone, its generic cough syrups have killed dozens of children, its eye drops have caused blindness and its chemotherapy drugs have been contaminated.
The children who died — mostly under the age of five years — were given Indian-made over-the-counter products contaminated with industrial solvents and antifreeze agents that are fatal in even small amounts. The eye drops that contained extensively drug-resistant bacteria? So far 68 patients across 16 U.S. states have been affected. Three people died, several had to have their eyeballs removed, some went blind, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported on March 21. The Indian company, Global Pharma Healthcare, issued a voluntary nationwide recall for the drops.
India is the largest provider of generic medicines, producing 20% of the world’s supply, according to the government’s Economic Survey. Its $50 billion drug-manufacturing industry exports medicines to over 200 nations and makes 60% of all vaccines. It boasts “the highest number” of U.S. Food and Drug Administration compliant plants outside America, and indeed, some of its generic pharmaceutical companies produce high-quality medicines.
That may well provide consumers with a level of comfort, but history suggests it is unwise to trust that feeling.
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Wow! Just as I was trying to figure out how to place an order from Oddway. Now I don’t know what to do, as it seems too risky.
I think the rapamycin / sirolimus drugs are usually good from what we’ve seen and heard from people - see the lab analysis here: Rapamycin / Sirolimus from India, Lab Test Report on Quality / Purity
I don’t worry so much about buying sirolimus, but I don’t want to buy all my medicines from India that is for sure.
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Valisure’s CEO, David Light, was invited to speak at the Stanford Medicine Grand Rounds and present the topic, “Drug Quality & Safety Issues in the US and Strategies to Address Them.” During his presentation, David had the opportunity to share with top physicians background and extensive data on drug quality issues from Valisure’s numerous petitions and a growing number of studies and reports. Real-world solutions where independent testing, quality scoring, and certification are already being used were also discussed, along with debunking concerns over cost or access if more is done to address quality.
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It’s things like this that gives India a bad name.
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I cannot believe this is only an issue in India. It’s just too easy to make money from lying about what’s in the bottle.
I have stopped buying supplements from Amazon. Every step in the supply chain must make a contribution to product quality or they are just giving cover to the fraudulent suppliers.
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Yes, as previously proved by the NMN tests many of the NMN products sold on Amazon had ZERO NMN.
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Yes - the problem is everywhere…
See these posts: Supplement Companies - The Good and The Bad (Reference) - #2 by John_Hemming
and: Supplement Companies - The Good and The Bad (Reference) - #3 by RapAdmin
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Are there any particular medications to avoid buying from India from a quality perspective?
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Avoid Siroboon IMHO.
I mean like other stuff: tadalafil, metformin, bp meds, ezetimibe, bempedoic acid, etc.
Is there anything known for being dodgy in particular or is it more certain brands of certain meds?
Has anyone ordered from bgpharmadrugs.to? The reason I am considering this company is because they have everything I want, except for the rapa, because their price for that is too high. I am surprised by how extensive their offering is, they even have peptides.
Does anyone have a recently used India source they can recommend. Right now, I’m looking for a source for Nexlizet. I’m running low ~ 30 days left.
Lots of people are reporting success with different vendors in this thread - just scroll down to the bottom for the most recent posts: Disturbing news regarding Medications Ordering from India, Price Increases, Parcels Stopped - #328 by sophiawillson
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Of 3-4 of my sources only M (don’t want to openly say his name here but could provide in DM if anyone needs it) orders/shipments have arrived with zero problems for me this year. I had three orders from him (March-August) and they all were delivered successfully. Two other guys I used to order regularly from (Anil and Jagdish) it appears they were doxed as their shipments were intercepted and never made it (thankfully they were both small, around $100 each). Even though they were both nice enough to send second orders for free, again they were intercepted and never arrived. I was sent letters from the customs indicating the seizure, and even after my appeals for release (saying is for personal consumption, I am ordering from India because I can’t afford meds from USA) they did not release them, but sent me a list of US sources/places I should contact to get cheaper services/meds LOL.