Does Mail Order Medication Lose Its Potency?

SallyS70

After ordering my anastrozole from a mail order pharmacy, I started to wonder about the delivery process.  As the drug is being sent to me, it may be put through a variety of temperatures in planes, trains, and/or mail trucks not to mention my mailbox.  (I will, of course, try to get it from my mailbox as soon as it arrives.)  Will potency be lost?  I am saving money, but maybe it's not worth it.   

MelissaDallas

the same thing happens on the trip to the pharmacy. The stock trucks to your local drug store aren't climate controlled either.

Shipment temps are frequently outside the recommended storage range of temps, but most drugs don't seem to be affected much. I saw something within just the last few days where one woman received liquid medicine that was frozen. 

There are a some drugs that get shipped in coolers.

I even received injectable blood thinner syringes by mail in hotter-than-hell Texas Summer.

Kicks

How do you think the meds get to your local pharmacy?  It's shipped in all sorts of weather conditions just as it's shipped to you if you mail order it.  The only thing I'd worry about is if the mail order pharmacy is a reputable one.  All of my meds are shipped via the mail all the time.

I do order some vaccines for the horses that are very temperature sensitive and they are shipped in styrofoam coolers over night with ice pack in the summer.

Moderators

Sally, although it's not exactly what you asked, we wanted to add some information from the main Breastcancer.org site's section of Tips to Lower Medicine Costs:

"If there is no other way to afford your medicine than through an online pharmacy, make sure the web site has the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy's Verified Internet Pharmacy Practice Sites Seal, also known as the VIPPS Seal. This seal means the online pharmacy applies and meets state licensure requirements and other VIPPS criteria."

The same page has information about Medicine Assistance Programs direct from the meds' manufacturers, including a program for Arimidex (chemical name anastrazole).

• The Mods

SallyS70

Thank you all for your responses.