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.
5 SECRET SUMMER-TRAVEL PACKING HACKS TO MAXIMIZE CARRY-ON SPACE AND MINIMIZE STRESS
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.
OZEMPIC AND WEGOVY COULD DOUBLE AS KIDNEY DISEASE TREATMENT, STUDY SUGGESTS
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.
UTAH MOM FIGHTS FOR HER DAUGHTER’S ACCESS TO DISCONTINUED DIABETES MEDICATION: ‘LIFE-SAVING’
“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.
SUMMER TRAVEL: HOW TO PACK A CARRY-ON (AND NOTHING MORE!) THIS VACATION
“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.
CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR OUR HEALTH NEWSLETTER
“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.
Sign Up
Create a free account to access exclusive content, play games, solve puzzles, test your pop-culture knowledge and receive special offers.
Already have an account? Login
Use left and right arrow keys to navigate between menu items.
Use escape to exit the menu.
A child in California is presumed to have H5N1 bird flu, according to the San Francisco Department of Public Health (SFDPH).
As of Dec. 23, there had been 36 confirmed human cases of bird flu in the state, according to the California Department of Public Health (CDPH).
This represents more than half of the human cases in the country.
LOUISIANA REPORTS FIRST BIRD FLU-RELATED HUMAN DEATH IN US
The latest pediatric patient, who lives in San Francisco, experienced fever and conjunctivitis (pink eye) as a result of the infection.
The unnamed patient was not hospitalized and has fully recovered, according to the SFDPH.
A child in California is presumed to have H5N1 bird flu, according to the San Francisco Department of Public Health. (iStock)
The child tested positive for bird flu at the SFDPH Public Health Laboratory. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) will perform additional tests to confirm the result.
CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR OUR HEALTH NEWSLETTER
It is not yet known how the child was exposed to the virus and an investigation is ongoing.
“I want to assure everyone in our city that the risk to the general public is low, and there is no current evidence that the virus can be transmitted between people,” said Dr. Grant Colfax, director of health, in the press release.
BIRD FLU PATIENT HAD VIRUS MUTATIONS, SPARKING CONCERN ABOUT HUMAN SPREAD
“We will continue to investigate this presumptive case, and I am urging all San Franciscans to avoid direct contact with sick or dead birds, especially wild birds and poultry. Also, please avoid unpasteurized dairy products.”
Samuel Scarpino, director of AI and life sciences and professor of health sciences at Northeastern University in Boston, is calling for “decisive action” to protect individuals who may be in contact with infected livestock and also to alert the public about the risks associated with wild birds and infected backyard flocks.
An infectious diseases expert called for “decisive action” to alert the public about the risks associated with wild birds and infected backyard flocks. (iStock)
“While I agree that the risk to the broader public remains low, we continue to see signs of escalating risk associated with this outbreak,” he told Fox News Digital.
Experts have warned that the possibility of mutations in the virus could enable person-to-person transmission.
“While the H5N1 virus is currently thought to only transmit from animals to humans, multiple mutations that can enhance human-to-human transmission have been observed in the severely sick American,” Dr. Jacob Glanville, CEO of Centivax, a San Francisco biotechnology company, told Fox News Digital.
As of Jan. 10, there have been a total of 707 infected cattle in California, per reports from the California Department of Food and Agriculture. (iStock)
“This highlights the requirement for vigilance and preparation in the event that additional mutations create a human-transmissible pandemic strain.”
As of Jan. 10, there have been a total of 707 infected cattle in California, per reports from the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA).
For more Health articles, visit www.foxnews.com/health
In the last 30 days alone, the virus has been confirmed in 84 dairy farms in the state.
“In the beginning, everyone thought they were going to find this one breakthrough pain drug that would replace opioids,” Gereau said. Increasingly, though, it’s looking like chronic pain, like cancer, could end up having a range of genetic and cellular drivers that vary both by condition and by the particular makeup of the person experiencing it. “What we’re learning is that pain is not just one thing,” Gereau added. “It’s a thousand different things, all called ‘pain.’”
For patients, too, the landscape of chronic pain is wildly varied. Some people endure a miserable year of low-back pain, only to have it vanish for no clear reason. Others aren’t so lucky. A friend of a friend spent five years with extreme pain in his arm and face after roughhousing with his son. He had to stop working, couldn’t drive, couldn’t even ride in a car without a neck brace. His doctors prescribed endless medications: the maximum dose of gabapentin, plus duloxetine and others. At one point, he admitted himself to a psychiatric ward, because his pain was so bad that he’d become suicidal. There, he met other people who also became suicidal after years of living with terrible pain day in and day out.
The thing that makes chronic pain so awful is that it’s chronic: a grinding distress that never ends. For those with extreme pain, that’s easy to understand. But even less severe cases can be miserable. A pain rating of 3 or 4 out of 10 sounds mild, but having it almost all the time is grueling — and limiting. Unlike a broken arm, which gets better, or tendinitis, which hurts mostly in response to overuse, chronic pain makes your whole world shrink. It’s harder to work, and to exercise, and even to do the many smaller things that make life rewarding and rich.
It’s also lonely. When my arms first went crazy, I could barely function. But even after the worst had passed, I saw friends rarely; I still couldn’t drive more than a few minutes, or sit comfortably in a chair, and I felt guilty inviting people over when there wasn’t anything to do. As Christin Veasley, director and co-founder of the Chronic Pain Research Alliance, puts it: “With acute pain, medications, if you take them, they get you over a hump, and you go on your way. What people don’t realize is that when you have chronic pain, even if you’re also taking meds, you rarely feel like you were before. At best, they can reduce your pain, but usually don’t eliminate it.”
A cruel Catch-22 around chronic pain is that it often leads to anxiety and depression, both of which can make pain worse. That’s partly because focusing on a thing can reinforce it, but also because emotional states have physical effects. Both anxiety and depression are known to increase inflammation, which can also worsen pain. As a result, pain management often includes cognitive behavioral therapy, meditation practice or other coping skills. But while those tools are vital, it’s notoriously hard to reprogram our reactions. Our minds and bodies have evolved both to anticipate pain and to remember it, making it hard not to worry. And because chronic pain is so uncomfortable and isolating, it’s also depressing.
Commanders vs. Bucs Full Game Highlights | Tampa Bay Falls 23-20
Where The Cleveland Guardians Payroll Stands Right Now
What to expect as the 89th Texas legislative session gets underway
WATCH: ALABAMA SHAKE's Brittany Howard perform w/ Kumite, her hardcore band, live for the first time
:quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/adn/FJF52QJA4JDEZKLNNPODZ3NRCU.JPG "80 mph, 90 mph and higher: Here’s a rundown of peak gusts recorded across Southcentral Alaska in Sunday’s storm")
80 mph, 90 mph and higher: Here’s a rundown of peak gusts recorded across Southcentral Alaska in Sunday’s storm
Colorado Rockies game no. 116 thread: Zac Gallen vs José Ureña
Why Marjorie Taylor Greene was ‘kicked out’ of the Freedom Caucus according to Rep. Buck
See it: Tesla crashes into Columbus convention center at 70 mph
Fox News Politics: Georgia the whole day through
Death of missing Oregon girl found in stream ruled homicide
Newsom Suspends State Environmental Rules for Rebuilding After Fires
Trump tasks blue state Republicans with 'homework' as GOP plots massive conservative policy overhaul
Three people killed in an avalanche in Italy's Leopontine Alps
On the way out: Transportation Sec. Buttigieg looks back on achievements, challenges : Consider This from NPR
Trump Calls Officials Handling Los Angeles Wildfires ‘Incompetent’
-
Politics1 week agoCarter's judicial picks reshaped the federal bench across the country
-
Politics1 week agoWho Are the Recipients of the Presidential Medal of Freedom?
-
Health1 week agoOzempic ‘microdosing’ is the new weight-loss trend: Should you try it?
-
World1 week agoSouth Korea extends Boeing 737-800 inspections as Jeju Air wreckage lifted
-
/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25822586/STK169_ZUCKERBERG_MAGA_STKS491_CVIRGINIA_A.jpg "Meta is highlighting a splintering global approach to online speech")
Technology4 days agoMeta is highlighting a splintering global approach to online speech
-
News1 week agoSeeking to heal the country, Jimmy Carter pardoned men who evaded the Vietnam War draft
-
Science1 day agoMetro will offer free rides in L.A. through Sunday due to fires
-
News1 week agoTrump Has Reeled in More Than $200 Million Since Election Day