Why is this a thing???

33055

Mon, Sep 17 2018, 12:19 pm

amother wrote:

Why does your mind automatically jump there?

The kid already has a psychiatrist/doctor/medical team set up with a treatment plan and it's working well. It's a whole lot simpler to get refills and send them over than to try setting up medical care in a country whose system you are unfai with, whose language you don't speak, and whose doctors may (often) think they know better and want to change things around.

Are you the person who asked Fox to send the meds over on a list serve? Because otherwise your answer is out of place.

I travel to third world countries and am able to get meds whatever I travel not knowing the language and the doctors there. I don't know a lot about EY never having lived there but knowing doctors trained there. The doctors are of the highest caliber. While I never questioned EY's health system, I assume that it is the highest quality. I'd that's not true, please inform me. That was what I was questioning. BTW, meds are much cheaper out of the country.

My question had nothing to with taxes on meds. It had to do with availability.

Teomima

Mon, Sep 17 2018, 12:29 pm

Squishy wrote:

I obviously can't speak to the exact circumstances of the earlier example re: importing medication, but I can share how, while living in the US as a college student (so this would be the opposite of someone importing meds TO Israel, but the same idea), it was much easier for me to continue taking my medication that had been prescribed by my doctor back in Israel. So my mom would pick up and fill the prescriptions, then send the pills to me in the States. I had health insurance in the US, but there was no reason to start over with a new doc when I had my regular one back home. Similarly, I'm sure there must be many people in Israel, such as yeshiva/sem students, new olim not yet used to the system, or returning residents (for whom reinstating health insurance can take months to kick in), they may have an easier time importing their medications, at least temporarily.

amother

Royalblue

Mon, Sep 17 2018, 12:36 pm

I would say no. It's chutzpah of people who barely know you and tbh I wouldn't even take from people I know well. Mostly because I have no room, but even more so because it can be dangerous. Ladies, it's not worth problems G-d forbid later. Remember the 3 boys arrested in Japan? We were once asked by a really nice Chabad Rabbi we had met recently to take medication back to the states. We were put on the spot and kind of agreed to do it, but later on told them I'm sorry we don't feel comfortable. It's a big responsibility to take medication or even anything back. Not worth it. The person asking you should just ship it--if it costs money but it's really important they'll ship it. Why should you take such a huge responsibility? Please be careful when accepting packages to take for others.

WhatFor

Mon, Sep 17 2018, 12:56 pm

Just ooc, is it legal to travel with prescription meds that aren't for you? I thought that if you're traveling with medication, you need the prescription (or your name on the bottle) so that they can confirm you're not drug smuggling. How are all these people traveling with others' psychiatric meds. Am I wrong?

33055

Mon, Sep 17 2018, 1:20 pm

Teomima wrote:

TY

I didn't think of that. I was curious about the meds in EY.

amother

Beige

Mon, Sep 17 2018, 1:21 pm

Posting anything to Israel takes a long time. My daughter once left something on an airplane and the airline kindly shipped it to her in Israel. It took one month! From a city 3 hours flight away. Even if you ship from within Israel it is really slow. So if someone needs medicine or wtvr I can see why may be the only way. Also, I once needed to send my daughter a cellphone and the post office here does not allow cellphones to be shipped. bh a nice person was able to take it. Most people travelling from my city to israel are israelis and they always offer to take something. (Oh, your daughter is studying in Israel? Do you want to send a package?)

However, I believe many international stores such as next, M&s and other delivers to israel and they don't use the israeli postal service. You just need to order below a certain sum so you don't get charged tax. So if your seminary aged kid forgets socks you can order from there.

I had a bad experience once where someone asked me to take something, and it was a huge heavy box. (this was back in the day when luggage allowance was a lot more)

I would also be nervous about drugs and diamonds etc being smuggled, so would be hesitant about who I am taking from.

Fox, I am thrilled you live in a reality where $70 is not a lot of money. Good for you!

Raisin

Mon, Sep 17 2018, 1:22 pm

WhatFor wrote:

Possibly. But it may not be prescription...I know someone who brings back a certain over the counter baby cream to the USA from Europe since it is not available in the USA.

Teomima

Mon, Sep 17 2018, 1:33 pm

Squishy wrote:

TY

I didn't think of that. I was curious about the meds in EY.

Meds in Israel are good, health care here is excellent, but some things are different enough that if you don't know how it works, you'd be very confused. For example, you can't just walk into the pharmacy and pick up hydrocortisone cream or Neosporin, but you can get different medications that serves the same purposes. Also, you can't get those nice giant bottles of generic acetaminophen or ibuprofen so easily obtained in the States, so lots of American expats like to import those.

FranticFrummie

Mon, Sep 17 2018, 1:43 pm

When I lived in America I took a med that was brand new on the market. It worked amazingly well. When my prescription ran out after I made Aliyah, I found that I could not get it here come hell or high water, and it could take up to a year to get it approved for import - and then it would be way out of my price range. My doctor ended up giving me an older version of a similar med, and B'H it's working fairly well (but still not great.)

As for bringing things back and forth, it is a very done thing, and it's not generally considered rude to ask, and it's not generally considered rude to refuse (of course there will always be that person with an entitled attitude, so just use your boundaries.)

I would only carry for a close relative, or someone I've known for a long time, and if it's something that is easily identifiable as being legal to carry. Use your common sense, people!

If I'm asked, I will simply say that my suitcase is nearly overweight, and I have a policy of only carrying for relatives. Anyone with half a brain should accept that as being reasonable.

SixOfWands

Mon, Sep 17 2018, 1:44 pm

Teomima wrote:

I'm not sure that you can mail prescription medications to Israel.

I usually see this request for yeshiva/seminary kids who are running low on meds, but don't have regular Israeli doctors or insurance, and also for tourists who forget something.

I wouldn't bring for strangers, but for families with kids in school, or having just made aliyah, its pretty common to ask others to bring over a couple of things. When we visited DS1 at yeshiva, we brought cosmetics to one seminary girl, and other odd and ends to others. Oh, and a pair of shoes to someone's elderly uncle who claimed he could only wear one brand of shoes, not available in Israel. And I'm pretty sure we sent things with friends, even if I can't recall what.

Fox

Mon, Sep 17 2018, 2:35 pm

amother wrote:

Fox, I am thrilled you live in a reality where $70 is not a lot of money. Good for you!

You don't think a child's health and well-being is worth $70? I can certainly see why you chose to remain anonymous!

Here's what I suspect happened:

I believe the child in question was a seminary girl or yeshiva bochur who had forgotten to take medication back after Pesach. The mother hadn't thought through possible solutions to the problem and kept sending increasingly hysterical and shrill emails begging someone to take the medication, quite likely exaggerating the level of the emergency.

When someone actually took her at her word that this was a dire situation and offered to pay, she realized that she'd gone a little overboard and backed off, probably finding another solution.

To answer you while dialing down the snark, there have been times in my life when $70 was a huge amount of money, and there have been times when I could spare it. When this incident happened, I had a business FedEx account that meant I could easily make sure a kid who seriously needed his/her medication got it delivered to the door in two days. I could find a way to deal with the extra $70 on my bill when it arrived.

And if I were a parent whose kid needed a medication desperately, you better believe I would accept $70 from someone if I didn't have it.

I've shipped medication frequently through FedEx, including a couple of times internationally. I always included the paperwork from the pharmacy and made sure the addressee matched the name on the paperwork. I never had a problem, but I'm sure it depends on the country, the medication, and how vigilant customs is being that particular day.

amother

Peach

Mon, Sep 17 2018, 3:01 pm

It's a thing because not everything is sold in IL and some people forget things. And some people need things. And not everyone has business account's with fedex, dhl, etc. And it's 70$ for the smallest lightest thing. And it takes the post office almost 2 months to notify the person it's arrived ( if they don't skip that step) then you have to go to the post office, wait on line, pay tax...
But it's okay to say No. Some people don't mind. They like to or don't mind to do the chesed. And you really can say no.

If you have two people wanting to send things with you they can chip in for an extra suitcase, save money, it'll get there faster & you can pack more clothing and shoes for yourself. You can always pack more shoes.

heidi

Mon, Sep 17 2018, 3:13 pm

Raisin wrote:

Possibly. But it may not be prescription...I know someone who brings back a certain over the counter baby cream to the USA from Europe since it is not available in the USA.

But it may not be worth asking favors of people.
I love a certain moisturizer from America. My parents and my husband are happy to bring it for me. I would never ask a favor from anyone else. There's plenty of moisturizer here.

gamanit

Mon, Sep 17 2018, 3:15 pm

Fox wrote:

When someone actually took her at her word that this was a dire situation and offered to pay, she realized that she'd gone a little overboard and backed off, probably finding another solution.

Or it really was an urgent situation so sending it via post wasn't an option. She probably found someone else to take it some other way.

I've brought things for people to Israel and sent things with others as well. In my community it's normal. Of course everyone inspects packages (and lets people know that that'll be done). I also told people that I'd try to fit their stuff into my suitcase but made no guarantees. If my suitcase was overweight their item would be the first thing taken out.

OBnursemom

Mon, Sep 17 2018, 3:33 pm

amother wrote:

Psych meds are a controlled substance. I do not want to be explaining why I have someone else’s
controlled substances in my luggage. I have no issue taking someone else’s glasses or bag of baby clothes to Israel with me. Just know that I will completely unpack it to make sure I am not bringing anything I don’t intend on bringing. I will not bring anyone else’s medications, anything that looks like white powder, wrapped packages, or money (or anything I have to declare at customs) over an international border.

amother

Yellow

Mon, Sep 17 2018, 4:00 pm

OBnursemom wrote:

You get a letter from the psychiatrist who prescribed the medication explaining the situation and put it in the same compartment as the medication itself. From what I've seen certain medications just aren't available there so bringing it would be a big chessed. Just make sure it actually is the medication the bottle says it is. (visually inspect the pills)

https://new.goisrael.com/FAQ

OBnursemom

Mon, Sep 17 2018, 4:04 pm

amother wrote:

Your link has no information about bringing meds for other people. Just about bringing medication and/or syringes for yourself.

amother

Pearl

Mon, Sep 17 2018, 4:27 pm

I had the weirdest experience once bringing stuff to Israel. I went winter break from college to go to a good friend's wedding. A couple of people asked me to bring things, which I was happy to do. The weird part was that for everything I brought with me and delivered, someone in Israel asked me to bring an equivalent item back to the US. For example, my parents gave me a bas mitzvah present to bring to close friends and they gave me a bar mitzvah present to bring back. My aunt gave me a stack of invitations to mail in Israel to assorted relatives and a cousin gave me another stack of invitations to mail back in the US so they didn't have to pay for international postage. I forget what else I delivered, but there were a couple more items of similar ilk.

I certainly remember as a seminary student that my parents sent stuff to me through friends and family and brought stuff for others when they came to visit. As long as people are reasonable about size and weight and not pushy about it then it doesn't seem to be such an awful thing to ask.

Edited to correct autocorrect.