Dealing With This Canadian Pharmacy Is More Trouble Than It’s Worth
Looking to obtain a break on my practice’s botulinum toxin of choice (Myobloc) I yielded to curiosity and ordered from a Canadian Pharmacy…Northwest Pharmacy.com. I figured we would try to break the price point of this popular product. Thankfully I used my credit card.
Botulinum toxin must be kept cold to retain its potency. We traditionally receive this product on dry ice and have never had much of a problem with effectiveness. I was promised by the pharmacy rep that this product would arrive cold within 2-5 days of shipping. Only after I gave her my credit card information did she share with me that the product would be coming from Great Britain. This was not welcome news. I was reassured that the product would be cold and usable.
The product arrived ten days later at room temperature, a completely questionable situation. The pharmacy rep said to go ahead and use it. I said nope. As I was summarizing the dispute, it occurred to me one more reason why patients having their botulinum toxin elsewhere sometimes describe such a variation in their experiences. Other practices might actually use this rotten Botox. Mine doesn’t.
For other docs thinking of ordering from Northwest Pharmacy: They were way too Type B for me. You have been warned.
*This blog post was originally published at Truth in Cosmetic Surgery*
This is a big warning to consumers who shop price on injectable cosmetic procedures. Ask your doc where they source their injectable products. I’ve heard of docs buying them from abroad, and yes the price is significantly less, but holy cow, it’s not a good idea. It’s also a big warning to docs too. Any doc thinking about purchasing products from another country really should check with their malpractice carrier first, I have a feeling that they would have something to say about the idea.