Health
Traveling internationally? It could be illegal to bring along these medications, according to a pharmacist
As summer travel season gears up, 77% of Americans expect to pack a prescription medication for the trip — but nearly half don’t check to see whether it’s even legal to bring those meds into other countries.
Additionally, more than a quarter of Americans have had medications confiscated during international travel, according to a May 2024 survey of 1,048 respondents by SingleCare, a free prescription savings service.
“Certain medications that are commonly prescribed in the United States might be illegal or strictly regulated in other countries,” Dr. Jennifer Bourgeois, PharmD, a pharmacy and health expert based in Dallas-Fort Worth, told Fox News Digital.
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Here are some important details on this topic.
4 types of medications that may be illegal for international travel
“Generally, medications that have a high potential for abuse or dependency are more likely to face strict regulations,” Bourgeois warned.
Jennifer Bourgeois, PharmD, a pharmacy and health expert at SingleCare who is based in Dallas-Fort Worth, shared tips for traveling with prescription drugs during this summer travel season. (Jennifer Bourgeois/SingleCare)
These include controlled substances, which are tightly regulated because of their potential for addiction and misuse, she said.
Stimulants, which are used for conditions such as ADHD and are considered illegal in some countries, are also included in that category.
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Bourgeois shared the following list of prescription drugs that may be illegal to transport across the border.
No. 1: Narcotics and opioids
Medications such as oxycodone, hydrocodone and codeine are heavily regulated or banned in many countries due to their potential for abuse, according to Bourgeois.
No. 2: Psychotropic drugs
Drugs for mental health conditions, such as amphetamines (Adderall), benzodiazepines (Xanax) and certain antidepressants, may be restricted.
As Americans gear up for summer travel this year, 77% expect to pack a prescription medication — but nearly half don’t check to see whether it’s even legal to bring along those meds to other countries, a survey found. (iStock)
No. 3: Medicinal cannabis
“Even if they are legal in some U.S. states, cannabis and cannabis-derived products are illegal in many countries,” Bourgeois cautioned.
No. 4: Strong painkillers
Some countries restrict strong painkillers, such as tramadol, which is an opioid sold under the brand names ConZip and Ultram, to treat moderate to severe pain.
How to check legality before traveling
“Bringing prohibited medications into a foreign country can have the potential for serious consequences, such as confiscation of medications, fines and possible arrest,” Bourgeois warned.
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“In severe cases, travelers may be detained, prosecuted and even jailed.”
Legal issues can also lead to delays and complications in travel plans, she added.
All medications should be kept in your carry-on luggage instead of in checked bags, an expert recommended. That way, if there are unforeseen travel delays, you’ll still be able to access your medications. (iStock)
Before packing your prescriptions when traveling abroad, Bourgeois recommends checking your destination country’s embassy or consulate websites and laws regarding medication.
“You may also consult with your doctor, pharmacist or travel agent, who may be able to provide advice tailored to your destination,” she added.
If there are specific restrictions for your medication in the country you plan to visit, it’s best to follow the directions from the country’s embassy so you can continue to take your medication while traveling.
“Bringing prohibited medications into a foreign country can have the potential for serious consequences.”
“For instance, many countries allow only a 30-day supply of certain medicines, and require that you carry a prescription or a medical certificate from your health care provider,” said Bourgeois.
If you know that you’ll need a refill of your prescription while you are away, check with your pharmacy two weeks before you leave.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends making an appointment with your health care provider or a travel health specialist at least one month before you leave, as stated on its website.
Before packing your prescriptions when traveling abroad, check with your destination country’s embassy or consulate websites for laws regarding medication, an expert recommends. (iStock)
“The pharmacist may need to request refills or a ‘vacation override’ from your insurance,” Bourgeois noted.
If your medication is absolutely not allowed in the destination country, Bourgeois suggests consulting with your health care provider to discuss alternatives and potential adjustments to your treatment plan.
What to know before packing prescriptions
Even if your medications are permitted in the country you’re visiting, it’s still important to follow some basic guidelines when traveling internationally, according to Bourgeois.
First, it’s important to always have a copy of your prescription or a medical document signed by your doctor explaining why the medication is essential for you to have.
“Exceeding personal use quantities can raise suspicions.”
On its website, the CDC also recommends leaving a copy of your prescriptions at home with a family member or friend in case you lose your copy or need an emergency refill.
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“Also, keep all medications in their original packaging to clearly display the prescription label,” Bourgeois advised.
Additionally, she said, make sure the name on the prescription matches the name on your passport.
“Carry only the quantity you need for the duration of your trip, plus a small buffer,” Bourgeois said. “Exceeding personal use quantities can raise suspicions.”
Even if your medications are permitted in the country you’re visiting, it’s still important to follow some basic guidelines when traveling internationally. (iStock)
Also, be sure to declare your medications at customs if required by the destination country, she said.
All medications should be kept in your carry-on luggage instead of in checked bags. That way, if there are unforeseen travel delays, you’ll still be able to access the medicine you need.
5 additional medication travel tips
Bourgeois shared the following additional things to consider when bringing medication across the border.
No. 1: Keep time zones in mind
“Taking daily medications for chronic conditions can be confusing when you travel across the world,” she cautioned.
“In severe cases, travelers may be detained, prosecuted and even jailed.”
“Pay attention to time-zone differences and take the medication according to your last dose, not the local time of day.”
No. 2: Check OTC rules
“It is important to check your destination country’s laws for over-the-counter medications, too,” Bourgeois said.
“Carry only the quantity [of medicine] you need for the duration of your trip, plus a small buffer,” an expert advised. “Exceeding personal use quantities can raise suspicions.” (iStock)
“For example, pseudoephedrine — commonly known as the brand drug Sudafed, which is purchased over the counter in the U.S. — is prohibited in Japan and Mexico.”
No. 3: Don’t buy from non-pharmacy sellers
If you are traveling internationally, don’t buy any medications that are not sold at the pharmacy, Bourgeois said.
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“Counterfeit drugs are common in many developing countries and quality is not ensured.”
No. 4: Stock up on staples
Before traveling, stock up on over-the-counter medications and travel-sized items from the pharmacy, said Bourgeois.
“Talk to your pharmacist about vaccine-preventable diseases and request a travel health consultation to ensure you are protected,” an expert recommended. (Julian Stratenschulte/dpa)
Common over-the-counter medications for travel include antidiarrheals, motion sickness meds, allergy medicines and medications for pain and fever.
No. 5: Understand disease risks
If you are traveling outside the U.S., it is important to understand the risk of diseases in the countries you plan to visit.
“Diseases such as Hepatitis A, yellow fever and typhoid can be prevented through vaccinations,” Bourgeois said.
“Talk to your pharmacist about vaccine-preventable diseases and request a travel health consultation to ensure you are protected,” she continued.
“It’s vital that you do not wait until the last minute to get your vaccinations, as it typically takes up to 14 days for antibodies to build.”
Fox News Digital reached out to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for comment.
For more Health articles, visit www.foxnews.com/health.
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A new report by the American Heart Association (AHA) included some troubling predictions for the future of women’s health.
The forecast, published in the journal Circulation on Wednesday, projected increases in various comorbidities in American females by 2050.
More than 59% of women were predicted to have high blood pressure, up from less than 49% currently.
The review also projected that more than 25% of women will have diabetes, compared to about 15% today, and more than 61% will have obesity, compared to 44% currently.
As a result of these risk factors, the prevalence of cardiovascular disease and stroke is expected to rise to 14.4% from 10.7%.
The prevalence of cardiovascular disease and stroke in women is expected to rise to 14.4% from 10.7% by 2050. (iStock)
Not all trends were negative, as unhealthy cholesterol prevalence is expected to drop to about 22% from more than 42% today, the report stated.
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Dr. Elizabeth Klodas, a cardiologist and founder of Step One Foods in Minnesota, commented on these “jarring findings.”
“The fact that on our current trajectory, cardiometabolic disease is projected to explode in women within one generation should be a huge wake-up call,” she told Fox News Digital.
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“Hypertension, diabetes, obesity — these are all major risk factors for heart disease, and we are already seeing what those risks are driving. Heart disease is the No. 1 killer of women, eclipsing all other causes of death, including breast cancer.”
Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death for women in the U.S. and around the world. (iStock)
Klodas warned that heart disease starts early, progresses “stealthily,” and can present “out of the blue in devastating ways.”
The AHA published another study on Thursday revealing one million hospitalizations, showing that heart attack deaths are climbing among adults below the age of 55.
The more alarming finding, according to Klodas, is that young women were found more likely to die after their first heart attack than men of the same age.
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“This is all especially tragic since heart disease is almost entirely preventable,” she said. “The earlier you start, the better.”
Children can show early evidence of plaque deposition in their arteries, which can be reversed through lifestyle changes if “undertaken early enough and aggressively enough,” according to the expert.
Moving more is one part of protecting a healthy heart, according to experts. (iStock)
Klodas suggested that rising heart conditions are associated with traditional risk factors, like smoking, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, obesity and a sedentary lifestyle.
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Doctors are also seeing higher rates of preeclampsia, or high blood pressure during pregnancy, as well as gestational diabetes. Klodas noted that these are sex-specific risk factors that don’t typically contribute to complications until after menopause.
The best way to protect a healthy heart is to “do the basics,” Klodas recommended, including the following lifestyle habits.
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Klodas especially emphasized making improvements to diet, as the food people eat affects “every single risk factor that the AHA’s report highlights.”
“High blood pressure, high blood sugar, high cholesterol, excess weight – these are all conditions that are driven in part or in whole by food,” she said. “We eat multiple times every single day, which means what we eat has profound cumulative effects over time.”
“Even a small improvement in dietary intake, when maintained, can have a massive positive impact on health,” a doctor said. (iStock)
“Even a small improvement in dietary intake, when maintained, can have a massive positive impact on health.”
The doctor also recommends changing out a few snacks per day for healthier choices, which has been proven to “yield medication-level cholesterol reductions” in a month.
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“Keep up that small change and, over the course of a year, you could also lose 20 pounds and reduce your sodium intake enough to avoid blood pressure-lowering medications,” Klodas added.
“Women should not view the AHA report as inevitable. We have power over our health destinies. We just need to use it.”
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Nearsightedness (myopia) is skyrocketing globally, with nearly half of the world’s population expected to be myopic by 2050, according to the World Health Organization.
Heavy use of smartphones and other devices is associated with an 80% higher risk of myopia when combined with excessive computer use, but a new study suggests that dim indoor lighting could also be a factor.
For years, scientists have been puzzled by the different ways myopia is triggered. In lab settings, it can be induced by blurring vision or using different lenses. Conversely, it can be slowed by something as simple as spending time outdoors, research suggests.
Nearsightedness occurs when the eyeball grows too long from front to back, according to the American Optometric Association (AOA). This physical elongation causes light to focus in front of the retina rather than directly on it, making distant objects appear blurry.
The study suggests that myopia isn’t caused by the digital devices themselves, but by the low-light environments where they are typically used. (iStock)
Researchers at the State University of New York (SUNY) College of Optometry identified a potential specific trigger for this growth. When someone looks at a phone or a book up close, the pupil naturally constricts.
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“In bright outdoor light, the pupil constricts to protect the eye while still allowing ample light to reach the retina,” Urusha Maharjan, a SUNY Optometry doctoral student who conducted the study, said in a press release.
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“When people focus on close objects indoors, such as phones, tablets or books, the pupil can also constrict — not because of brightness, but to sharpen the image,” she went on. “In dim lighting, this combination may significantly reduce retinal illumination.”
High-intensity natural light prevents myopia because it provides enough retinal stimulation to override the “stop growing” signal, even when pupils are constricted. (iStock)
The hypothesis suggests that when the retina is deprived of light during extended close-up work, it sends a signal for the eye to grow.
In a dim environment, the narrowed pupil allows so little light through that the retinal activity isn’t strong enough to signal the eye to stop growing, the researchers found.
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In contrast, being outdoors provides light levels much brighter than indoors. This ensures that even when the pupil narrows to focus on a nearby object, the retina still receives a strong signal, maintaining healthy eye development.
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The team noted some limitations of the study, including the small subject group and the inability to directly measure internal lens changes, as the bright backgrounds used to mimic the outdoors made pupils too small for standard equipment.
Researchers believe that increasing indoor brightness during close-up work could be a simple, testable way to slow the global nearsightedness epidemic. (iStock)
“This is not a final answer,” Jose-Manuel Alonso, MD, PhD, SUNY distinguished professor and senior author of the study, said in the release.
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“But the study offers a testable hypothesis that reframes how visual habits, lighting and eye focusing interact.”
The study was published in the journal Cell Reports.
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