Does anyone know if you can mail prescriptions from the US to Mexico & how?  

Find a good doc in Merida (look in our YoPages)... have your doc in the U.S. fax your prescriptions to your doc in Merida. He will write you new prescriptions and you can have them filled at any pharmacy. it is MUCH cheaper and easier just to buy your medication in Merida...

 

That having been said - the forum has a great search function now - and this topic has been discussed several times... just do a search for prescriptions or medications and you should find what you are looking for. Its just that its so much cheaper and less time consuming to see a Merida doc and get prescriptions here.

The past discussions have noted which delivery services will and will not handle imports of personal medications.  I wouldn't trust anything like that to mail unless you send registered mail (if medicines are allowed to be sent at all).  You will need, I've read, to obtain and enclose a document authorizing the import from the Mexico City office of whatever is the equivalent of the ministry of health.  I have not seen any explanation of how to obtain that, and it sounds like something oriented to commercial imports rather than to personal use medications.  Mexican bureaucracy being what it is, there may not be any distinction recognized.

You can carry in your own medications, by air or land.  In theory, you should have a copy of an Rx for each medications or face confiscation.  In practice, no one has ever asked that of me. 

So that brings us back full circle to Yolita-Khaki's sound advice.

Most major pharmacies here have a list of brand name to generic equivalences.  U.S. doctors typically prescribe by a brand name (after all, their major "education" in medicines comes from sales people).  Doctors internationally are more commonly aware of the generic names.  Of course, what with different fillers, etc., all generics are not necessarily equal in effect to a particular brand name product.  And not all new to market medicines are necessarily available here.  It can work the other way around.  I believe the brand named Januvia (which I take) was actually available in Mexico several years prior to receiving FDA approval for prescribed use in the USA.  Also, many if not most non-controlled medicines (that is, without codeine, morphine, etc.) can be purchased here without an Rx.  Do obtain a "factura" (formal, stamped receipt) if you intend to claim the cost against qualifying foreign medical insurance, for any medication for which you have an Rx.

If you do go to a pharmacy here, please select one of the major stores that is fully air conditioned.  And recall that just about all, if not all, prescription medicines require storage at a U.S./Canadian "room temperature," which is well below the average daytime temperature for most of the year in the Yucatan.

There's been some discussion on MexConnect about shipping meds:

http://www.mexconnect.com/cgi-bin/forums/gforum.cgi?post=114593;search_string=medications%20FedEx;guest=18341777#114593

You might search over there a little more.

how do you know that you can get certain medication without a prescription? i always use sleeping pills temazepam. do I go to a doctor in Progreso and ask for a prescription. Can I get it for 3 months? Or do I have to go every month to a doctor? In the Netherlands I order my prescription online at the pharmacy. I don't know how it works in the Yucatan.

The government of Mexico link  in the 2007 MexConnect article Lynette helpfully cited does not work, but the article provided sufficient info for a bit of digging.

The agency currently in charge of authorizing or rejecting requests to import medicines (among other medical requirements) is COFEPRIS




To find the right form (tramite) go to  http://www.cofepris.gob.mx/wb/cfp/permisos2?page=2& .  I believe the correct form (again, for non-controlled medicines as noted in my prior posting) is (the following underlined material are not url links):

COFEPRIS-01-003

Permiso Sanitario Previo de Importación de Muestras.

(Para donación, consumo personal, investigación científica, pruebas de laboratorio y exhibición). 

For donations, persona consumption, etc.

Playing around with a lot of their Excel spread sheets, it appears that the cost of each submission is about $211 mn.  (There's a geographic spread sheet that talks about tens of thousands of pesos for all but Mexico City, and I have no idea as to which medical imports it applies!)

Anyone not discouraged by all this is encouraged to dig deeper and report their findings!  There are lots of contact numbers, spreadsheets, etc.  Have fun! 

To Anne2225 in the Nederlands:

Having purchased over the counter in Mexico medicines that require an Rx in the U.S., I can attest that for many medicines, no prescription is required by the pharmacies here.  I also have witnessed folks here consulting with the pharmacist (or frequently with someone who appears to be a clerk!) regarding which medicines to use for their conditions.  (The clerk may be better informed than some of the unregulated cure-alls available in stores other than pharmacies.)

Sleeping pills could well be considered an estupefaciente and thus fall into the category of a controlled drug for which you would need a Mexican physician's prescription.