Taking prescription drugs into China

[Smbruner]

We're taking a Viking cruise next month and will go into Beijing and out of Shanghai.

 

Viking says to pack our prescriptions in their original containers. We usually pack them in daily doses in small zip bags.

 

Bringing them in their original containers will take us so much space. We only need 16 days worth!

 

Has anyone had issues with China customs if their prescriptions are not in their original containers?

 

Thanks for any advice on this.

Edited October 1, 2016 by Smbruner

[Philob]

What are your embarkation and debarkation cities? Including the ones you are flying into. Are you visiting any other countries?

 

YMMV but most times Chinese Customs will give Western visitors a pass. Other countries may not be so lenient.

 

As a general rule you should leave your Rx in the original bottle; better safe than sorry. I have about 8 prescriptions that I take when we visit SWMBO's side of the family in China for 2-4 weeks at a time; all of them in the original Rx bottle. You can sometime have your pharmacy rebottle your Rx into smaller bottles.

 

A few years ago, on our way back to the US, we were held up at airport security by the Hong Kong MIB because I left Kid's epi-pen in my backpack. They photo copied the Dr's letter and Rx labels on the box before letting us thru. MIB=black jumpsuits, black berets, black machine pistols.

Edited October 1, 2016 by Philob

[Smbruner]

We fly into Beijing and have 5 nights there touring. Then we fly to Xian (to see the Terra Cotta Warriors) and from there we fly to Chongquig where we board our ship.

 

I guess we depart from the ship at Wuhan and fly from there to Shanghai where the tour ends and we fly home from there.

 

We're only in mainland China.

 

Thanks for any help on this. Our bottles hold 90 day supplies so they are large and bulky.

 

I was thinking of taking a copy of the prescriptions from our mail order company if they have any questions.

[Philob]

Our bottles hold 90 day supplies so they are large and bulky.

 

I was thinking of taking a copy of the prescriptions from our mail order company if they have any questions.

 

I also have 90-day supplies, but occasionally due to timing with the insurance billing vs refills vs our travels we do this:

 

Have your Dr give you a new script for a 30-day supply and have it filled at a retail pharmacy. Go back to mail order after your trip.

[Philob]

OR

 

Since you'll only be clearing Chinese customs on entry save your older Rx bottles, put in only what you'll need for the trip plus a buffer. After clearing Chinese customs in Beijing, put the pills into your multi-day pill box/zip bags and toss the Rx bottles.

:cool:

 

PS: Keep your paperwork just in case you have an over zealous US Customs agent when you return. At least you'll be back home and not in a foreign country dealing with a drug issue :p

Edited October 1, 2016 by Philob

[TravelMore&More]

I have done this on my many trips to China and they don't care.

Actually it has never been an issue anywhere in the world over my many years of travel.

[Smbruner]

I have done this on my many trips to China and they don't care.

Actually it has never been an issue anywhere in the world over my many years of travel.

 

You put them in the small zip pouches?

 

This information helps a lot. We are not taking in large quantities - only our 17 day supply.

 

Thanks again for all of the hints and comments!

[TravelMore&More]

Not in zip pouches but some other plastic container. Not the original packaging and not including a copy of the labels.

[Host Bonjour]

Another helpful thing to bring along is a pharmacist's printout of your current prescription regimen (with generic name equivalents also printed alongside brand names whenever applicable since brand names vary overseas) so that if RX bottles aren't available, you'll have the RX list on hand. Even if you do have the RX bottles, the list can still be handy if it has generic names on it.

 

Might you need any of this - probably not but it's nice to have some documentation at the ready just in case....it takes up no space in in the bag.

 

Good luck, stay well and enjoy your voyage

[cruisingtheword]

My husband and I use the plastic pouches and we also entered China in Beijing and left from Shanghai 1.5 years ago and had no problems. Actually I was a little nervous about customs/immigration in China and it was no problem - they were professional but friendly and very welcoming to foreign tourists.

[Floridiana]

On 11 flights to and within China on a long trip, security was interested in all sorts of things, never in our medication. We also have the huge mail order bottles. I kept smaller ones of the same medication to take on trips. I never travel with just the minimum supply in case we are delayed. If I hadn't kept the smaller bottles, I would probably put the medication in a weekly organizer, not in plastic baggies unless I could get a pharmacist's printout.

 

All sorts of things included: my husband's leather house key holder and the inside of his wallet including his money. (The guy just might have been curious, but it held up the line.)Since they were never interested in my purse, we transferred everything there before each security check.

Edited October 3, 2016 by Floridiana

[ROCruiser]

Have not had a problem yet after many trips in and out of China. I used to carry the bulky prescription bottles but now just take the prescription list from mail order with me and keep my. I always take more than what I will need for the trip in case there is any delay.

[Trend]

Have been travelling in Cina in and out of different airports many times and have never had a problem with prescriptions only liquids.

Big but have been delayed because of typhoons so always take a copy of scripts also heaven forbid you land in one of their hospitals you need to know what to have an interpreter tell the staff. Just hope that does not happen.

[GeezerCouple]

Before traveling, we ask our pharmacy to give us properly/fully LABELLED Rx bottles of the smallest size that will accommodate "x days" of each med. (We add a few days to the planned trip length, in case of delays, etc.)

 

The main "problem" is that the smallest bottle is still "too big" for small pills that are needed once or twice a day. But those are pretty small, so they aren't the main problem like containers for 90 day supplies of multiple pills/capsules per day!

 

That way, there is a valid and up-to-date prescription label on each little bottle.

 

We give them a week or two, so there is no rush, and they can do this during non-rushed hours.

[Smbruner]

Before traveling, we ask our pharmacy to give us properly/fully LABELLED Rx bottles of the smallest size that will accommodate "x days" of each med. (We add a few days to the planned trip length, in case of delays, etc.)

 

The main "problem" is that the smallest bottle is still "too big" for small pills that are needed once or twice a day. But those are pretty small, so they aren't the main problem like containers for 90 day supplies of multiple pills/capsules per day!

 

That way, there is a valid and up-to-date prescription label on each little bottle.

 

We give them a week or two, so there is no rush, and they can do this during non-rushed hours.

 

Well, unfortunately our mail order pharmacy (Express-Scripts) told me that they will NOT do this for me. They suggested I get my doctor to write a letter stating what drugs we take and take that with me instead.

[GeezerCouple]

Well, unfortunately our mail order pharmacy (Express-Scripts) told me that they will NOT do this for me. They suggested I get my doctor to write a letter stating what drugs we take and take that with me instead.

 

Ah, that's too bad.

 

Just in case this is relevant, "suddenly" a few months ago, our local pharmacy started giving 90-day supplies (even though the Rx was written for 30-days, refillable, etc.).

That's when we started getting a bunch of those large bottles.

But we get the cheaper price, same as 'if' we were using the mail order.

So I guess if we didn't want the "trouble" of going to the local pharmacy, we could use mail order, but there's no longer any financial value with the "mail order only" discount for a 90-day supply.

 

And we do not like having meds sent through the mail. We get SO much of our various neighbors' mail, we have to assume they are getting assorted pieces of our mail (Grrrr). And we'll never know if they just toss it...

 

Also, we occasionally get UPSP packages left at our doorstep, when it's addressed to a different name, but something like the same house number, but a totally different street name. Or sometimes, a different house number, but same street name.

Nope, mail order meds are not for us, not in this delivery area.

(Yes, we complained - and complained - the first few years we lived here, to no avail.)

We try to avoid USPS as much as possible, especially for anything important or of value.

 

Hmmm... any chance you could ask your physician to give you new Rx's for ONLY a one-month (or shorter time) supply? Just fill each once, to get the little bottles?

That seems like a real pain, but if it gets rid of a number of those big ones...??

Then you could keep them, each properly labelled, for travel, for at least a year or two or so?