So today I learned that it is technically possible for a person in the US to order insulin online from Canada without a prescription.
And that it costs less than the copays/deductibles that many US insurance policies will charge along the way to getting insulin here in the US. And I realized this requires a PSA.
Because this is technically illegal to do. You might be easily misled into thinking that it is legal because:
US customs only rarely rejects such shipments,
as far as I know the US has never prosecuted a person for ordering quantities that are reasonable for a couple months of personal use,
Canada does not have any laws making it illegal for their pharmacies to ship insulin to US patients,
Canada does not require a prescription at all for insulin,
Canada often gets their insulin from the same factories that the US does, literally often the same exact drugs, and with comparable standards of quality and safeguards and regulations,
Canadian pharmacies consider shipping to US customers a significant part of their business model, so much so that they have payed for quite a lot of advertising to US customers through Google, and
some US citizens and residents already choose to get their insulin from Canada that way.
Wow, just look at all those reasons why you might mistakenly think it is legal - it is affordable, legal and widely accepted on Canada’s side, and the insulin comes from legit sources. But to reiterate it is definitely illegal.
So you should absolutely never do it, no matter how much you might need insulin to not die.
No obligation, but if you could help spread the word of how this seemingly innocent method of getting insulin is actually illegal, you’d be doing a great service to the people who medically need insulin.
Otherwise, in a moment of desperation when they cannot afford it or their prescription for it cannot be renewed in time, they might make the wrong decision and buy insulin this illegal way, and that would be bad.
