? Which Canada internet pharmacy to buy Lantus from?

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Anne & Hyde (GA)

Anne & Hyde (GA)

Member Since 2015
Hyde was dx in May 2015. She started on ProZinc but today vet and I decided to switch to Lantus. I will be picking up a vial from local pharmacy but will want to switch to an internet pharmacy if it works for her. Which sites do you use? We are in Maryland if that makes a difference.

FYI - this is our second diabetic. Had one 10 years ago on Humulin U so we are pros at testing and the start low, go slow protocol.

Anne
 
Marks isn't taking new clients right now....they're running low on Lantus and are only filling scripts for established patients. There's a waiting list you can put your name on though and as soon as they get more, they'll get back to you. To get on the list go to www.canshipinsulin.com

If you're going to go ahead and buy a vial locally to get started with, that vial should last you 5-6 months, so you shouldn't need more any time soon so you might want to get your name on the waiting list
 
Off the topic of where to buy insulin, but I just wanted to mention when you're switching to Lantus, you have to make a mental change on the dosing as well. Dosing with Lantus is decided by how LOW the dose takes the cat, not the preshot. That's why people routinely get a mid-cycle test - they're searching for that low point. Lantus is also a depot insulin, unlike Humulin, so doses aren't changed as often as you might have done with the Humulin.

Good luck getting switched. If you need anything, Anne, just let us know.
 
Thanks for all the great insight and support.

Ann & Tess - thanks for the coupon hint - saved me $20 - final price at Target in Silver Spring, MD was $265.

Chris & China - Thanks for the heads up about Marks but I will put myself on the wait list'

BJM - I cannot get the 77Canada link to resolve - neither IE nor Chrome can find the site

As for Hyde, her PMPS was HI and I gave her 1u. She was 575 at +3. Will continue to monitor when I can. Just hate to see all those red and black numbers on her sheet.
 
Anne, I just took a look at Hyde's spreadsheet. I see what you mean about all the red and black numbers! If the Prozinc was from a reliable pharmacy, you may have something else going on besides the insulin. You mentioned dry food in your signature line - depending on how many carbs the food has, that might be part of the need for more insulin.

Are you aware that sometimes kitties have conditions that cause them to need more insulin? My punkin had acromegaly, which causes a need for larger doses of insulin.

When switching insulins, you don't have to drop all the way back to 1u - the previous dose is considered. Or if you want to stick with 1u, you can make increases more quickly than once a week if everything is constantly high.

If you want help figuring out how to move ahead, just let us know, as you can see there are some options you could consider. :)
 
I have done a lot of looking online for a cheaper alternative to buying lantus for our cat.

The least expensive, trustworthy source is the local (Chicago area) Walgreens: $255.99 for a 10ml vial, with a Walgreens prescription card.
CVS: $292.09. Even Costco is more: $266.27.

I looked extensively online for a Canadian pharmacy where I could buy Lantus. Most online Canadian pharmacies do not sell insulin or use an American affiliate to supply it, they say, because of the cold chain requirement. According to http://www.rxrights.org/the-rising-price-of-insulin/ most Canadian suppliers stopped selling insulin after receiving a letter from the FDA. All the Canadian pharmacies that offer Lantus through an American affiliate charge the same as (or more than) our local Walgreens does:

Doctorsolve.com: $268
OnlineCanadianPharmacy.com: $265
MapleLeafMeds: $254
QualityPrescriptionDrugs.com: $263
PrescriptionPoint.com: $268
OnlinePharmaciesCanada.com: $264
PharmaPassport.com: $266

Like others who have posted here on felinediabetes.com, I did try buying Lantus from RXCanada4Less.com (AKA Mark's Marine Pharmacy), and like others here I found I had to add my name to a waiting list. Their price is great: $100 + $20 S&H= $120. But they are not taking new customers. When I made my order at Mark's Marine Pharmacy I gave them my credit card number and a day later I see that it has not charged my credit card, which is a good sign.

One big worry about purchasing from an online Canadian pharmacy (aside from the concern about drug quality and safety) is whether or not the company is legitimate. When I make my order and give the online pharmacy my credit card number, will they take my money but send me nothing? How does one know the online pharmacy is legitimate and safe to do business with?

I found four sites that listed online pharmacies that these sites claimed were legitimate and trustworthy:
http://www.cipa.com/about/
https://www.edrugsearch.com/canadian-pharmacy-directory
http://www.pharmacychecker.com/brand/price-comparison/lantus/100+u&252ml/
http://www.safe.pharmacy/buying-safely/find-a-pharmacy-website#Pharmacies

I searched almost every online pharmacy listed on these four sites and did not find one that sold Lantus at a price cheaper than our local Walgreens store.

In addition to Mark's Marine Pharmacy, I did find four other sites that offer Lantus at prices that are significantly lower than what we can get at our local Walgreens. But these four other sites are not listed in any of the four directories of legitimate sites listed above. Nevertheless, these four sites are:

CanadaRXConnection.com: $125.16 + $15 S&H = $140.16
CanadianInsulin.com: $141.00 + $35 S&H = $176.00
GlobalPharmacyPlus.com: $90 + $12 S&H = $102
Canada-EDrugs-to.com: $103 + $0 S&H = $103 (from India in 1-3 weeks), or $152 + $16 S&H = $168 (from Canada in 1-2 weeks)

The first two sites are not actual pharmacies, however. They are prescription referral services. You download and fill out a form, sign a lengthy contract, and fax back the form, the contract, and your prescription, and then these sites (reputedly) go find a pharmacy somewhere in the world and this anonymous pharmacy sends you the prescription. These two sites act as middle men. That is not reassuring.

The Ontario Court of Appeals ordered the third site (GlobalPharmacyPlus.com) to close its Toronto office. It is likely that this company is based in Belize, not Canada. It also sounds like it may be very slow at making deliveries. For details, see:
http://www.safemedicines.org/2013/0...-operations-of-global-pharmacy-canada539.html
http://www.bbb.org/kitchener/busine.../global-pharmacy-plus-in-vancouver-bc-1187348
(click on "!There is an alert for this business!")
http://www.yelp.com/biz/global-pharmacy-canada-mississauga

The fourth site has a "low trust rating" from ScamAdvisor.com and a "poor trustworthiness rating" from MyWot.com. It is not BBB accredited. On its own site Canada-EDrugs-to.com offers no certifications from any third-party organizations. But I did echat with a rep of theirs, who was most helpful, and the access to echat is nice. I like that the site gives you the option to buy from Canada (quicker, but a bit pricier) or from India (cheaper, but slower and thus maybe not cold-chain safe). But I worry if I order from them, it still may take several weeks for the insulin to arrive or it is all just one big scam: they take my money and leave me empty handed. How do I know it is a legitimate business?

I hope my search is helpful to others here. Maybe it will save you a few steps or hours.

My questions:

Has any one successfully and satisfyingly bought Lantus from one of these last four websites: CanadaRXConnection.com, CanadianInsulin.com, GlobalPharmacyPlus.com, or Canada-Edrugs-to.com?

Has anyone found a pharmacy that sells Lantus for less than $250/10ml vial? A pharmacy that actually has it in stock for sale (unlike Mark's Marine Pharmacy) and which you have used and know is trustworthy?

Best solution, I think, is to find a diabetic person who uses Lantus and buy from them the leftover amount that they discard after 30 days, when they get their prescription refilled. Does anyone here know of a safe way of finding diabetic people who would be open to selling or giving their leftover unused insulin for use by a diabetic cat? Insurance (usually) helps pay for people's insulin, and they throw it in the garbage after 30 days or so. Pet owners pay out of pocket full price, and insulin that is 30+ days old is still ok for a pet to use.

Our cat would love it.
 
I've purchased twice off of Craigslist - but of course, buyer beware with Craigslist purchases. The first time I bought several boxes of pens from a woman whose diabetic 90+ year old dad had just passed away. The pens were great - I think I got 4-5 boxes of pens for something like $250.

The second time was from a young man who was switching his insulin from Levemir to Lantus. I got 2 boxes of vials for $40, i think. I was buying those and sending them to another FDMB member across the country who had found the ad.

In both cases I asked about the expiration date, the story of why they were selling the insulin, and if it had been kept refrigerated the entire time. I met the people in person and felt satisfied their stories were legitimate, checked the expiration date myself, and was confident the insulin had, in fact, been kept cold. All my boxes were still sealed.

Before those purchases I found one pharmacy in my city of 60,000ish who would sell single pens. Pharmacies that sell to hospitals and nursing homes sometimes will. There's no rhyme or reason to who will or won't - some major stores will break up a box, some won't. Same with small locally owned pharmacies. It doesn't hurt anything to make phone calls and ask.
 
The following is the reply I received from an email inquiry to GlobalPharmacyPlus.com (see my earlier posting), which offers a 10ml vial of Lantus for $102, including S&H.

"Shipping is a flat rate of $12.00. Its Registered Mail. Shipping time is usually about 12-16 days
The insulin is shipped from Slovakia (in Europe). It is not shipped refrigerated, however if you look at the manufacturers website it states that insulin, as long as the bottle has not been opened, does not need to be refrigerated for up to 28 days."
 
I got this quote on 8/15/2015 -

Others have recommended http://www.77canadapharmacy.net/ and Marks Marine (http://www.canshipinsulin.com/ last I heard they were low on supplies but you can get on the wait list for next vial)

77canadapharmacy (fax 1-866-548-8621) just quoted me this

5 pens of 3 ml-$207.32
vail of 10 ml-$143.56
shipping to US $15.99 - takes 5 - 10 business days to get to east coast US - $21.99 for 3-7 business day turn around
 
I have heard of people buying Lantus from Turkey, but I have no idea about how good the insulin was. I'd be concerned about shipping unrefrigerated at this time of year when it's so hot. Yes, it's supposed to be good for 28 days at room temp, but for a cat, you want it to last for 4-6 months, not one month.
 
Thanks for the feedback. I visited the 77canadapharmacy website. The site does not load. All you see is the option to echat, which I did. I asked why the webpage does not appear; the customer rep replied that the site is down and IT is working on it. But in this forum (http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/best-source-store-for-lantus.142978/#post-1480492) pevsfreedom also said that the site was down in January 2015. That is a long time for a trustworthy website to be down. So I am afraid to order from there. (I have encountered fraudulent websites before.) Has anyone ordered recently from 77canadapharmacy with success?

I did put my name on the waiting list at Mark's Marine Pharmacy (RXCanada4Less.com), but again, in the other forum, pevsfreedom said back in January 2015 that Mark's Marine Pharmacy had no insulin and was asking new customers to add their names to a waiting list. That was 8 months ago---that too is a long time for a pharmacy to be out of a medication. It has collected at least 8 months worth of new customers adding their names to a waiting list. Being on a waiting list that is at least 8 months old does not offer much hope. Anyone use and have success recently obtaining Lantus from CanadaRXConnection.com, CanadianInsulin.com, GlobalPharmacyPlus.com, or Canada-Edrugs-to.com?

Thanks for all of your input. It is most helpful.
 
Marks has only been limiting purchase of Lantus to established clients since June 4th...that's not 8 months and I've been trying to convince them that they should consider breaking open a box of pens and at least offering new clients the option to buy 1 pen at a time....at least that would allow them to both conserve their stock as well as giving new sugarcat parents an option other than just putting their name on a waiting list.

I'm hoping to talk to Jordan (the pharmacy manager) later today to see if this is something they have discussed and might be willing to try. (Keep your fingers crossed!!)

Marks is a trusted pharmacy (and a real brick and mortar business) unlike most of the sites listed above which are what I call "warehouse pharmacies" that aren't REAL pharmacies at all.

Since Marks hasn't been able to take new clients, we have been sending people to www.77canadapharmacy.net and I've heard from several people that they DID get their insulin in a reasonable length of time, but that the customer service has ranged from OK to awful. They are also requiring that you give them your bank account information instead of being able to use a credit/debit card. Again, so far I've heard of nobody getting ripped off for more than the advertised amount, but according to the people at Marks (who I asked about this "requirement") they've said they'd be very concerned about giving that information out to anyone, but if you do, you might want to make sure your bank only allows 1 charge before stopping any further payments
 
Has anyone ordered recently from 77canadapharmacy with success? Yes its who I used prior to switching to Marks Marine pharmacy I had no problems with 77 canada
 
I got my name on Mark's website in June and they called me a few days ago to confirm the Lantus was for a pet and not for me...she said I'm getting close to the top of the list. She also asked if my vet would consider prescribing Levemir instead, since there's no shortage of that, and I said, "I WISH!" I have about half a vial left (went back to the vial in hopes of getting insulin cheaper elsewhere soon).
 
Got a voicemail from Marks today that I had gotten to the top of the list. Hyde is now at 7u of Lantus and I think she cringes a bit with the shot. Thoughts about switching to Levemir? Do I still need a prescription for it? Would the dosages be comparable?
 
I live 40 minutes away from Marks Marine Pharmacy (I live in Blaine, WA). I already filled my Gracie's first prescription but I am going to drive across the border and have her script filled there next time. Since they have a waiting list to ship I won't even bother trying to get on it. I don't know why I didn't think to go to Canada when so many Canadians come down here to fill their scripts. I paid 296.00 for the Lantus and 10 needles. Ridiculous--I am hoping the patent expires this year so we can get a generic of this medication for alot less for our sugar babies.
 
@Gracie'smom - If you live in Blaine, don't bother driving all the way to Mark's Marine. Just hit the nearest pharmacy in Surrey across the border. I find Safeway locally has the cheapest prices by a couple of dollars, but Levemir and Lantus are available across the counter in Canada. Costco and Real Canadian Superstore also have good prices. Just ask the pharmacist for a 5 pack of cartridges of Lantus for your diabetic cat. No questions asked, no prescription needed. The price is somewhere around $110 for the 5 - pack, been a while since I bought it so not sure on the price.
 
Wendy&Neko said:
@Gracie'smom - If you live in Blaine, don't bother driving all the way to Mark's Marine. Just hit the nearest pharmacy in Surrey across the border. I find Safeway locally has the cheapest prices by a couple of dollars, but Levemir and Lantus are available across the counter in Canada. Costco and Real Canadian Superstore also have good prices. Just ask the pharmacist for a 5 pack of cartridges of Lantus for your diabetic cat. No questions asked, no prescription needed. The price is somewhere around $110 for the 5 - pack, been a while since I bought it so not sure on the price.
Click to expand...
Wow! Boy are we ripped off in California!
 
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