BajaNomad

Baja pharmacies selling high % of fake meds

Lee - 1-2-2024 at 08:34 AM

https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2023-12-30/hidden...

JZ - 1-2-2024 at 08:52 AM

Not good.

Concerning

John M - 1-2-2024 at 09:12 AM

I guess the message is to stay away from narcotic based meds.

We've bought some sort of cold sore pills & ointment in addition to "albuterol" inhalers. It doesn't seem those classes of medication are targeted by illegal labs.

John M

stillnbaja - 1-2-2024 at 10:47 AM

without buying the Times....
https://news.yahoo.com/mexico-raids-closes-31-pharmacies-225...

mtgoat666 - 1-2-2024 at 10:47 AM

Reading between the lines, it appears they tested the commonly abused pain killers and speed.
I suspect the counterfeiters are focused on the drugs that people like to ingest recreationally; “Let’s vacation in mexico and buy opiates, Barbiturates and amphetamines!”
Hopefully, the other drugs (not commonly abused) are not fakes.

[Edited on 1-2-2024 by mtgoat666]

RFClark - 1-2-2024 at 05:44 PM

There seems to be no government educational requirement to sell drugs in a Mexican pharmacy. We use the Pharmacy at COSTCO. That pharmacy requires a prescription for most of the things that the US requires. Things like antibiotics and addictive pain killers. The other pharmacy that is trustworthy is in Todos Santos next to St. Judes.

surabi - 1-2-2024 at 07:35 PM

All Mexican pharmacies require a prescription for antibiotics and opioids, not just Costco.

RFClark - 1-2-2024 at 08:06 PM

No, they don’t!

Lee - 1-2-2024 at 10:13 PM

Quote: Originally posted by surabi  
All Mexican pharmacies require a prescription for antibiotics and opioids, not just Costco.


Mainland? Not my experience btwn TJ and Cabo. What’s available will blow your mind.

surabi - 1-2-2024 at 10:20 PM

Oh, that's true on the mainland, too. That's because they aren't the actual meds. My doc told me that years ago when I was having a hard time sleeping and got a prescription for valium from him. I asked him how the pharmacies are able to sell "diazepam" without a prescription. He said they can't- that it isn't the real drug. And I found that out myself when I tried some once. It didn't work.

[Edited on 1-3-2024 by surabi]

Lee - 1-2-2024 at 10:47 PM

Quote: Originally posted by surabi  
Oh, that's true on the mainland, too. That's because they aren't the actual meds. My doc told me that years ago when I was having a hard time sleeping and got a prescription for valium from him. I asked him how the pharmacies are able to sell "diazepam" without a prescription. He said they can't- that it isn't the real drug. And I found that out myself when I tried some once. It didn't work.

[Edited on 1-3-2024 by surabi]


Your experience with diazepam. Tramadol is consistently legimate. Per article, 114 meds tested, 72% were fake. 28% might have been good.

Go to enough pharms in Baja, without a script, you can get real meds.

AKgringo - 1-2-2024 at 10:52 PM

Quote: Originally posted by surabi  
All Mexican pharmacies require a prescription for antibiotics and opioids, not just Costco.


If you ask around, I am sure you can find a pharmacy that has a doctor on duty that would be willing to do an exam over the counter and write you a prescription.

I do not want to do that, but I watched a friend do so a few years ago.

surabi - 1-2-2024 at 11:49 PM

Oh yes, there are lots of pharmacies that have a so-called doctor on duty. They aren't hard to find.

My point was that it is illegal for pharmacies to dispense antibiotics or opioids without a prescription, not that no pharmacies do.

There is also a "Precio maximo al publico" embossed on the side of all med boxes, but many pharmacies cover that up with their own price sticker.

When I first moved to my town about 20 years ago there was one pharmacy. About 10 years ago tons of them started appearing and now you can't walk a blick without encountering one, and sometimes there are 3 in one block. They are said to be money-laundering operations for the cartels.

[Edited on 1-3-2024 by surabi]