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Best places to buy your medication


joanne

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Why do some doctors recommend against buying our drugs at Farmacia Similares?

Farmacia Similares gets most of its drugs as approximate copies of regular formulations made in various chemical factories in India.

Farmacia Similares products often are NOT generic copies of the actual.  In cases of old drugs like amoxycillin, Farmacia Similar makes an exact chemical copy of the old amoxycillin combined with clavulanic acid.

But    In cases of more recent drugs, the Indian chemists make their best approximations of current drugs - especially for drugs that are still patented.  

The Indian chemists make these 'similares' drugs to offer a   somewhat-similar-copy   cheap-alternative to at least get some drugs to    poor   3'rd world customers who can't afford the real thing.

As the Indian chemical industry has old traditions (think Bhopal),   they have made some good products over the years, but problems have cropped up at various Indian factories.

Other reasons some Doctors avoid Farmacia Similares:
Indian chemical industry  Quality Assurance... Quality Control ?? ...  not even close to US standards,  nor Canadian standards, nor EU standards.

Also Note:   Many medicines formally require storage below 90º F  and others require storage below 80º F.  
Check your PDR or your Farmacia's Diccionario de Especialidades Farmaceuticas (DEF)  for appropriate storage requirements.

Before buying a med at an un-airconditioned Farmacia Similares, or any un-airconditioned Farmacia,  consider that liquids, ointments, ungents,& creams are particularly sensitive to temperature degradation during hot weather at any Farmacia that does not keep the store cool 24-7.    

The drug supply chain must also be kept cool,  which is a challenge for drugs made in India,  stored in India,  shipped across India,  and then transported (cool) to Mexico,   and then stored consistently cool in Mexican trucks & Mexican warehouses/distribution centers.

In general:  Common antibiotic pills/tablets (like amoxycillin, Ciprofloxin, et al) tend to hold their potency well,  while antibiotic ointments often lose potency when unairconditioned - exposed to India's heat   and   Mexico's heat.

We've used open-air Farmacia Similares'  antibiotics for years with good success.  Their anti-fungal creams & antibiotic ointments have been a bust.

 If you have doubts,  contact your physician,  and explain just what meds you want to try from  Similares   that are    'similar'   to what the doctor actually prescribed for you.

 

 

 

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3 hours ago, Lulugirl said:

Why?

I have had 2 wrong prescriptions. One was serious, as it was for my stomach and it was a heart medication   I already take a heart med. It was lowering my blood pressure and making me faint.  A friend also got the wrong med and ended up in hospital. It is my understanding that a pharmacy is suppose to have a doctor on staff.

The doctor was a very old man who just sat in a chair and died about a year ago.

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1 hour ago, bdlngton said:

Yes, why beware of Farmacia Express?

I have had 2 wrong prescriptions. One was serious, as it was for my stomach and it was a heart medication   I already take a heart med. It was lowering my blood pressure and making me faint.  A friend also got the wrong med and ended up in hospital. It is my understanding that a pharmacy is suppose to have a doctor on staff.

The doctor was a very old man who just sat in a chair and died about a year ago.

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On 10/25/2016 at 10:08 PM, Joco said:

Search on Farmacia Similares for the medicines. https://farmaciasdesimilares.com/#!/

On Mondays,  everything is 25% off which can make a big difference if your medicines are expensive.

 

Thanks for posting - I went on line and searched and found some of my medicines I didn't know they carried. And I'll definitely be there on Monday!

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On 10/26/2016 at 3:57 PM, CHILLIN said:

I am not going to look it up for you. I notice that More Liana's post that INAPAM gets 25% off at Farmacia Similares (in Jalisco at least). I forget what the rule is to get this card. You have to be permanente I believe? When you are here, maybe you can find a friend with an INAPAM card.

By the way, when you are here, visit a top cardiologist for 500 to 650 pesos. There are new drugs now for blood pressure, some of them are only sold in Europe and Latin America at this time. There are also many more generics than the U.S.A.

Please tell me where More Liana's post is.  I don't see it on this thread.  Thanks.

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On INAPAM and LCS, More Liana posted a link to the 3,800 benefits of INAPAM. I looked up Jalisco, and Farmacia Similares was one of them. Again, if you are lucky, and require a popular medicine which is price competitive, print out the coupon page with the special offer, and Farmacia Similares will often honour it, even if the coupon has expired. My gawd - coupon clipping, is that a senior's thing or what!!!

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On 10/27/2016 at 10:12 PM, ibarra said:

I buy 20mg lisinopril at Walmart. 50 pesos, buy 3 boxes get the 4th free. If you have an INAPAM card you receive an extra 5% discount.

If you buy your medication during the first seven days of the month and have an INAPAM card, you will receive a 7.5% discount.   

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4 hours ago, virgogirl said:

Does the discount on Mondays at Farmacia Similares also cover supplements, or just pharmaceuticals? 

I purchased a supplement at Farmacia Similares yesterday.  Yes, the discount on Mondays covers supplements.  And YES, the "Buen Lunes" 25% discount is nationwide.

 

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On 10/26/2016 at 3:57 PM, CHILLIN said:

I am not going to look it up for you. I notice that More Liana's post that INAPAM gets 25% off at Farmacia Similares (in Jalisco at least). I forget what the rule is to get this card. You have to be permanente I believe? When you are here, maybe you can find a friend with an INAPAM card.

 

INAPAM card  is for us folks with  perm. and temp. visas but not 180 day so called tourist visa. Residents yes tourists no.

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thanks liana. i will try without the INAPAM card. don't have that yet. I'm finding that these supplements i'm using can get pricey so i am just keeping track of this. But i went in to Simi and got one for 30 pesos less than Prasad. I like to support Prasad, but if the thing is significantly less somewhere else, i must save the dinero.

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