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I recently moved to my townhouse in Escazu from Washington DC on a near year round basis. I am adjusting to my new rhythym of things here and rearranging my health care services is an important priority. I have a U.S. health insurance plan that will cover my health costs here in the same way as in the U.S. Until I can establish a new doctor/clinic relationship here for continuing care (blood pressure, cholesterol medications etc.)I am using my current prescriptions from the U.S. Yesterday I tried to refill my prescription for the generic version of Zocor (a statin) at several pharmacies in Escazu. I could only find the name brand Zocor itself at about ten times the price I was paying for the generic in DC. Can some one suggest how I might locate a pharmacy with better selection of generic drug alternatives? In a related but different matter, my health plan allows refilling prescriptions by mail at substantial savings in the U.S. Does anyone know if there are insurmountable obstacles for me to do this through forwarding agencies like Aerocasillas? Thanks for any advice that will aid the health of my cardiovascular system as well as my wallet. Bob
I, too, take Zocor and have not been able to find a generic form here in Grecia. I’m not sure that simvistatin is available here except as Zocor.
And, like you, I have a mail-in drug service in the U.S. and I have used Aerocasillas to transship meds here from the Florida mailing address they give you. It’s been pretty simple although not particularly quick.
Just one note of caution: Order your meds one prescription or maybe two at a time. That way, the package will fly in under Customs’ radar. If you order several things at once, as I did a year ago, you may well find yourself in a bureaucratic nightmare that’s hard to escape.
David: Thanks for the info. But I do have another question regarding prescriptions. My husband’s prescriptions are written through his cardiologist in the States. Is your doctor (in the States) continuing to write your prescriptions so that you can order? If so, is that because you actually GO back to the U.S. for a checkup with your doc? Most docs want to see you at least yearly to renew your meds….can you advise? THX!
Please allow me to intrude long enough to offer our situation. I, too, used to take Zocor, and my wife takes a blood pressure medication called Hyzar (actually it is two drugs in one: Cozar and Hydrochlorothiazide). Our CAJA doctor changed me to a generic equivalent of Lipitor (and, I know that many of you will disagree with me, but I do have more than thirty years experience as a Nurse, so I do really know what I’m talking about here), and he prescribes two separate medications for my wife, which is the generic equivalents of the two that make up her old Hyzar.
I have no problem with generic drugs, and I have no problem with going from Zocor to Lipitor. All Statin type cholesterol lowering drugs are similar in action and have similar side effects, so it really makes no difference which one you take. My blood tests still show acceptable levels of cholesterol, and my wife’s blood pressure is still under control.
My message, therefore, is simple: Don’t worry about medications in Costa Rica, and don’t think that you will have to resort to traveling all way back to the states to see a doctor, nor will you have to order your medications from the states…….of course, if you are still going to pay for U. S. health insurance, and if you can still afford it, along with the extra travel and the shipping charges, then go ahead on………
that’s about all I wanted to say………thanks for taking the time to read it.
My Costa Rican endocrinologist (U.S. board certified) disagrees with John’s assessment of the anti-cholesterol medication dispensed by the CAJA. They only have one to offer and he (my endo) asserts that it’s not very effective. Maybe it has enough oomph, however, to meet John’s needs and that’s all that matters. That’s why I remain on Zocor which is doing the job for me.
There is a U.S.-licensed physician here in Costa Rica who will write prescriptions that U.S. pharmacies will honor. You mail in the script and can then order online. As long as you only order in small amounts (one or two prescriptions per order), Customs and the Ministry of Health won’t get in the way.
Thanks to everyone for the insights and experiences. I am at least a year away from residency in CR and any CAJA benfits for health care or otherwise ( I am still puzzled by the implementation of the so-called 13% tax for CAJA for resident status people–how much is it really in practice?). I am also a retired U.S. federal employee with a good health benefit plan, so I will continue to try to sandwich/splice together my health care in CR with that in the U.S. ( I have a residence near Seattle Washington now and plan to spend a few months a year there. The University of Washington Physicians practice is really outstanding there). My next step is to try to link up with CIMA to see what can be done about generic meds. My U.S. health plan is supposed to work there. I will report my experience.
[quote=”DavidCMurray”]My Costa Rican endocrinologist (U.S. board certified) disagrees with John’s assessment of the anti-cholesterol medication dispensed by the CAJA. They only have one to offer and he (my endo) asserts that it’s not very effective. Maybe it has enough oomph, however, to meet John’s needs and that’s all that matters. That’s why I remain on Zocor which is doing the job for me.
There is a U.S.-licensed physician here in Costa Rica who will write prescriptions that U.S. pharmacies will honor. You mail in the script and can then order online. As long as you only order in small amounts (one or two prescriptions per order), Customs and the Ministry of Health won’t get in the way.[/quote]
David, thanks for the info on a US licensed physician. I too have Medco as you may recall. I also have an option of buying prescriptions in CR, paying cash for them and getting reimbursed by my former employer. With Medco, my copay on non generic meds is 25%. My wife requires some meds that do not have generics like Humira. I priced all her meds in CR and surprisingly found the CR price for non generics was less than Medco and I pay for them in the US. However, no knowing my copay situation in CR without further research with the company, it is nice to know there is an option to get US prescriptions written in CR for sending to medco to be filled then get them to CR as you mentioned before to me. So long way of saying thanks for mentioning this
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