Q. Why are Canadian Meds USA (CMUSA) and Total Care Pharmacy (TCP) making it possible for their customers to order prescription drugs from Australia?
A. Recently, in an attempt to stop cross-border sales from Canada, a number of major pharmaceutical companies have restricted sales of their products to Canadian mail order pharmacies. While CMUSA and TCP have been able to continue to supply your medications, the actions of the pharmaceutical companies are causing delays, sporadic shortages and higher prices. Our response is to give our customers more choices for ordering their drugs. We are therefore pleased to be able to offer you the opportunity to order your prescription drugs from a
licensed pharmacy in Australia. However, Canada will continue to be the first choice for sourcing your prescription
drugs.
Q. Who chooses where my prescriptions will be filled?
A. The choice is yours! You can specify that you want your prescriptions to be filled ONLY in Canada, have a particular prescription filled from another authorized country, or you can indicate that, as your agent, CMUSA and TCP can determine which country your medications will be shipped from, depending on product availability and/or price.
Q. What prescription drugs are available from Australia?
A. Only brand name drugs are available from Australia. While there may be certain differences related to strength (e.g., milligram dosage) or package size, the same drugs that have been available from Canada are available from Australia. Just as is the case for Canada, narcotics, controlled substances and drugs that must be refrigerated are
not available from Australia. Additionally, as with Canada, each order is limited to a three-month supply.
Q. Where are the drugs coming from in Australia?
A. TCP has made arrangements with a
fully licensed Australian pharmacy to provide prescription drugs to our U.S. customers who decide to take advantage of this new option. The management of TCP carefully inspected this pharmacy and it has been verified that it follows and meets all applicable regulatory requirements. All of the drugs sold by licensed Australian pharmacies, just as is the case with Canada, are subject to very strict standards regarding manufacturing, distribution and sale. Similar to the procedure in Canada, a licensed Australian physician must review and approve your prescription as issued by your U.S. doctor. The prescription drugs marketed by the major pharmaceutical companies are typically manufactured in plants located in many different countries. As a result, many of the drugs from Australian pharmacies, as with Canadian pharmacies, are manufactured in the
same plants that manufacture the drugs sold in the U.S.
Q. How do prescription drugs from Australia compare to those purchased in the U.S. or from Canada in terms of safety and quality?
A. The prescription drugs obtained in Australia are equivalent to those obtained in either the U.S. or Canada in terms of both safety and quality.
Pharmacies and pharmacists in Australia are licensed by the State Pharmacy Board for the state in which the pharmacy is located. Nationally, this system is overseen by the Australian Community Pharmacy Authority.
Q. Who do I place my order with?
A. You will continue to place your orders with Canadian Meds USA.
CMUSA, in conjunction with Total Care Pharmacy, will act as your agent to have your prescriptions filled by our licensed Australian pharmacy.
Q. How much can I save by ordering prescription drugs from Australia?
A. In general, the prices on drugs ordered from Australia will probably be slightly higher than the prices in Canada. However, prices may be lower than Canada for certain drugs. Additionally, there may be more significant differences for specific drugs, and these differences may vary over time. It is therefore recommended that you obtain comparative price quotes from CMUSA for both Canada and Australia
before placing an order. As noted above, a big reason for adding Australia to your list of choices is to avoid some of the shortages recently encountered in
Canada. As in the past, prices remain subject to change without notice, in both Canada and Australia.
Q. Will I have to sign a new Customer Agreement to obtain prescription drugs from Australia?
A. Yes. For your protection, and in order for Total Care Pharmacy to continue its strict adherence to regulatory standards, we are requesting that you sign and return an updated International Customer Agreement.
However, if you have already submitted a new International Customer Agreement in connection with authorizing another country (such as the UK), you do
not have to submit this agreement again. The only requirement in this case would be for you to specifically authorize CMUSA and Total Care to have your prescription filled by our Australian pharmacy.
Please note that even if you provide this authorization, your orders will NOT be automatically filled from the Australia
UNLESS you specifically instruct us to do so (e.g., by
only checking “Australia” on the updated Customer Agreement).
In the absence of a specific instruction from you to fill your prescriptions from another country, Total Care Pharmacy will always attempt to fill your prescriptions from Canada. If a particular drug is “short-listed” in Canada at the time you place an order (due to supply restrictions caused by the pharmaceutical companies), you will receive a call from Total Care asking whether you want to wait until the drug is available, or whether you would consider ordering your prescription from Australia (or another authorized country). If your order is filled from only one country (e.g., either Canada or Australia), only one shipping fee will be charged. If on the other hand, you specifically request that a particular drug be ordered from Australia
and have your other medications filled in Canada, you would be charged two separate shipping fees.
 Existing Customers: Please print a new customer agreement and fax or mail us a completed copy so that you may take advantage of our new International ordering options. Alternatively, you can complete the new Customer Agreement and submit it "online".
New customers need to complete both the International Customer Agreement and a Patient Medical Profile. Please click the "New Customer" box on the "How to Order" page to complete or print out these forms as a new customer.
Q. Is it necessary to obtain a
new prescription from my doctor for any medications that I want to order from Australia?
A. No. It is possible to transfer an existing prescription from Canada to Australia. However, a new prescription is generally preferable, if you have sufficient time to obtain one. Additionally, if you have a prescription on file with TCP, you can send in a new prescription without waiting for the refills on your existing prescription to be used up. However, if it is for the same drug and strength, a new prescription will
override and cancel the existing prescription.
Q. Is there a different or additional shipping charge if I order medications from Australia?
A. So long as all of the medications for a particular order come from only one country, there will be only one shipping charge of $9.95. However, if you decide to “split” an order, with part of the order coming from Canada and part coming from Australia, there will be two separate shipping charges of $9.95 each. If a
husband and wife are both placing orders, the orders must be shipped together
from the same country in order to only have one shipping charge.
Q. Will I still be able to pay for my drugs in the same way as I have in the past?
A. Both Canada and Australia will accept VISA, MasterCard and online checking (i.e., whereby the cost of your order is debited directly to your checking account). Additionally, while the use of a credit card is encouraged,
CMUSA accepts personal checks. All orders will continue to be billed in U.S. currency, regardless of where you purchase your medications.
Q. Does it take any longer to receive medications from Australia, and how are drugs from Australia shipped to me?
A. It may require a few extra days of shipping time to receive drugs from Australia than it does from Canada. At this time, shipments from Australia cannot be assigned a tracking number, as is the case with shipments from Canada. However, CMUSA is able to monitor the status of your order. Additionally, shipments from Australia may be subject to occasional delays caused by inspection procedures used by U.S. Customs, as has been the case with orders from Canada.
Q. Will ordering any of my prescriptions from Australia lessen the extent to which the privacy of my information is protected?
A. No. CMUSA and TCP will continue to take very strict precautions designed to safeguard the privacy of your information. As always, we limit our collection, use and disclosure of personal information to that which is required to carry out the purpose for collecting the information, i.e., to have your prescription filled.
Please note that it will NOT be necessary for you to contact or send any information to the Australian pharmacy in connection with having one or more of your prescriptions filled in Australia.
You should continue to fax or mail your prescriptions to Canadian Meds USA. Additionally, you should directly contact CMUSA at 1-877-933-0505 (toll-free) regarding any questions you may have, irrespective of which pharmacy (or country) is filling your prescriptions.
Thank you for using Canadian Meds USA!
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