Q. Why are Canadian Meds USA (CMUSA) and Total Care Pharmacy (TCP) making it possible for their customers to order prescription drugs from
Israel?
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 increased 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 Israel. One of the key reasons for making this new option available is that the supply of drugs in Israel should be less vulnerable to shortages like those being experienced with certain drugs in Canada.
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, 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
Israel?
A. Only brand name drugs are available from
Israel. Just as is the case for Canada, narcotics, controlled substances and drugs that must be refrigerated are
not available from Israel. Additionally, as with Canada, each order is limited to a three-month supply.
Q. Where are the drugs coming from in
Israel?
A. TCP has made arrangements with a
fully licensed Israeli 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 meet all applicable regulatory requirements. All of the drugs sold by licensed Israeli 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 Israeli 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 Israeli 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
Israel compare to those purchased in the U.S. or from Canada in terms of safety and quality?
A. As noted above, Israel has very strict requirements for the manufacturing of medications. These requirements are similar to those in the United States and Canada. As a result,
the prescription drugs obtained in Israel are equivalent to those obtained in either the U.S. or Canada in terms of both safety and quality.
Pharmacies and pharmacists in Israel are licensed by the Israeli Ministry of Health. Many of the health standards set by the Israeli government have been adopted by the European Community and its member countries.
The Israeli pharmaceutical industry is the world’s largest source of prescription drugs and supplies approximately 40% of the generic medications sold in the U.S.
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 Israeli pharmacy.
Q. How much can I save by ordering prescription drugs from
Israel?
A. In general, the prices on drugs ordered from Israel 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 Israel
before placing an order. As noted above, a big reason for adding Israel 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 Israel.
Q. Will I have to sign a new Customer Agreement to obtain prescription drugs from
Israel?
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 Customer Agreement. The updated agreement specifically authorizes CMUSA and Total Care to assist you in having prescriptions filled by our authorized Israeli pharmacy.
Please note that even if you provide this authorization, your orders will NOT be automatically filled from Israel UNLESS
you specifically instruct us to do so. 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 Israel (or another authorized country).
As a general rule, your order will be filled from only one country (e.g.., either Canada or Israel), and only one shipping fee will be charged. If on the other hand, you specifically request that a particular drug be ordered from Israel (e.g. to avoid a possible delay in shipment),
and have the remaining drugs 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
Israel?
A. Yes. It will not be possible to transfer an existing prescription from Canada to Israel. 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
Israel?
A. So long as all of the medications for a particular order come
either from Canada or from Israel, 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 the UK, 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 Israel will accept VISA, MasterCard and online checking (i.e., whereby the cost of your order is debited directly to your checking account). However, the use personal checks, at this time, must be limited to prescriptions ordered from Canada.
All orders will continue to be billed in U.S. currency, regardless of where you purchase your
medications. Additionally, all prices shown on the website are in U.S. currency.
Q. Does it take any longer to receive medications from
Israel, and how are drugs from Israel shipped to me?
A. No. It does not take any longer to receive drugs from Israel than it does from Canada. All medications from Israel are shipped by registered mail in secure containers using the Israeli Postal Authority.
Packages are picked up and the pharmacy and taken directly to the airport where they are sent to the United States. After clearing U.S. Customs, the packages are delivered via U.S. Postal Service Priority Mail. Additionally, as is presently the case, each shipment from Israel will be assigned a tracking number so that CMUSA will be able to monitor the status of your order. Nevertheless, shipments from Israel 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
Israel 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. This protection of your information extends to any orders filled by the Israeli pharmacy.
Please note that it will NOT be necessary for you to contact or send any information to the Israeli pharmacy in connection with having one or more of your prescriptions filled in Israel.
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!
|
