Getting prescription sent to Beijing from Canada

[alwaysstriving]

Will China customs allow prescription drugs to be sent to Beijing from Canada?

 

In Canada I bought generic Escitalopram. It looks like generic may be harder to find in Beijing and the name brand is very expensive in Beijing.

 

Or.......

 

If anyone knows where I can get generic Escitalopram in Beijing I appreciate it.

[XiaoXi]

Well there's always Indian online pharmacies.

[m000gle]

I can't speak from experience, but I would guess that importing prescription drugs from Canada (while possible) is likely unreliable and may run afoul of the "relevenat laws and regulations."

That said, Escitalopram does appear to be marketed in China as Lexapro ["来士普"（草酸艾司西酞普兰）]. I am not, however, sure whether this is the generic or brand name variant.

The challenge with a drug like this is likely less the access to it at a pharmacy than getting a prescription which will be recognized in the country.  A foreign (un-translated, un-notarized) prescription may or may not be recognized, while obtaining a local prescription may be difficult given the Chinese medical system's less than stellar reuptation of dealing with anxiety, depression and even mild mental illness.

Good luck!

[abcdefg]

You are more likely to find the brand-name product in a brick and mortar pharmacy when it's a product that is not in high demand. In this case that means Lexipro instead of generic escitalopram.

 

As far as having medicine shipped, it may or may not make it. Different people have reported varying degrees of success. Difficult to predict. Seems to vary from place to place and I don't know specifically about Beijing.

 

Well there's always Indian online pharmacies.

 

It matters less where the medication is coming from than what happens on the China end of the supply stream.

 

My personal experience has been that medications often seem to get held up in China customs, and then just disappear into some great untraceable void.