Is It Legal to Mail Controlled Substances

Stay organized with delivery documentation. For example, designate someone who is responsible for arranging and submitting proof of delivery every day if it is not electronically recorded. Keep separate files and folders for other documents, such as tracking numbers for recipes sent, delivery confirmations, and more. You want easy access to this information when a patient asks questions about the status of their prescription mailed. Know which medications your pharmacy`s policies do not allow delivery or shipping. For example, some pharmacies may decide not to supply controlled substances (oxycodone (OxyContin (USA), OxyNeo (Canada), etc.), morphine [Kadian, MS Contin, etc.]), refrigerated medications (insulin, etc.) or medications that require reconstitution (antibiotic suspensions, etc.). In addition, your pharmacy may restrict the shipment of medications that cannot be shaken. For example, shaking epoetin alfa (Procrit [USA], Eprex [Canada]) can lather the drug and ruin it. We may forget to take our drugs with us when we leave or in another innocent situation. But sending them has consequences you may not be aware of. Here we give you the complete guide on how to ship prescription drugs. ─Continue with a summary of the „cheat sheet” on the delivery and shipping of prescriptions ─ The risk of prosecution decreases if a package is not recognized.

An investigation or surveillance will most likely take place during larger and more frequent postal operations. A small, successful one-time delivery probably didn`t trigger an investigation unless someone contacted to do so. Controlled substances include poisons, compositions containing poisons, toxic drugs, and drugs or materials that have the potential to kill or injure within the meaning of 18 U.S.C. 1716. If you are sending to such a program, if you are registered, you must use the ready-to-use, self-addressed stamped envelopes provided by the return collector by mail. Yes, you can send medicine to China by air. However, you will need shipping documents such as a copy of the medication prescription, a copy of the invoice, and proof of the shipper`s ID. It is illegal in most cases to ship prescription drugs. But it`s legal with the appropriate license mentioned above. You should not send a loved one medication that they left at your home during the holidays. Even if you send yourself a legal prescription drug, there is no exception in the law that allows it. It seems that with our advanced society and legal system, we have found a way around this problem.

But not yet. By staying organized with the pharmacy workflow, you can streamline prescription delivery. Pharmacies that provide prescriptions should have a process in place to label these prescriptions and ensure that they are sorted separately from prescriptions that are picked up at the pharmacy. The clear indication on the Will-Call bag that the Rx is for delivery, the use of baskets of different colors and the labeling of patient profiles are examples of how some pharmacies do this. Be sure to prioritize these recipes appropriately and reserve a special place to store Rxs that need to be delivered or shipped. The most common methods are by courier or mail. The courier service includes delivery drivers who are employed in the pharmacy or outsourced by a third-party company. Courier delivery allows the prescription to go directly from the pharmacy to the patient`s home. This can be compared to sending drugs by mail (e.g., United States Postal Service, Canada Post, UPS, FedEx, etc.). With this method, the prescription passes through several hands and usually takes longer to reach the patient than with courier services. However, there are some exceptions to shipping prescription drugs that may make it legal.

This article covers all of this information and gives you a comprehensive guide on how to ship prescription drugs. If your pharmacy delivers or ships refrigerated medications, you must ensure that they are packaged in a way that maintains the „cold chain”. The cold chain refers to a system for storing and transporting drugs at the recommended temperatures from the place of manufacture to the place of use. This helps to maintain the effectiveness of the drug. If your pharmacy provides or ships refrigerated medications, it is very important to follow your pharmacy`s packaging guidelines to ensure that the cold chain is maintained. This may include placing items in a plastic bag to prevent condensation, shipping with refrigeration packaging, installing temperature monitoring devices inside the package, and using express delivery to avoid shipping delays. Specifically, certain penalties apply if you do not follow the proper procedure for shipping prescription drugs to the United States. The amount of the penalty is primarily determined by the type of prescription drugs you have sent and your state of residence. Essentially, you can actually send prescriptions in the mail as long as you follow the proper process of shipping the drug. Postal services such as USPS and private couriers such as FedEx require that all applicable federal, state, and local laws be strictly followed. To be sure, always make sure you learn as much as you can about your state or city`s laws and understand federal regulations. The statistics provided will not tell us how many shipments of medicines were successfully sent and received at destination.

It is impossible to know how many packages will be sent successfully. The numbers only tell us what was discovered and intercepted. This blog didn`t cover many other medications, other than marijuana and prescription drugs that can be shipped. There are many more penalties for the long list of illegal controlled substances that are illegally distributed in the mail. You should ensure that you always follow U.S. laws and regulations when shipping prescription drugs. However, before shipping prescription drugs with UPS, you must provide the following information: And, of course, the person who shares or uses the prescription drugs you ship is also subject to illegal possession and related penalties. The shipper is responsible for the following if authorized to ship prescription drugs: Whatever the situation, it is against postal regulations to ship prescription drugs — even if it`s in your state or across state borders, sending prescription drugs is prohibited — except in rare cases. Possession of a designated substance of Schedule 1 chemicals has certain exceptions to the requirement to register with the DEA, such as: As mentioned earlier, it is illegal to ship prescription drugs. It doesn`t matter what the situation is. If it`s a drug that someone left in your home, maybe drugs that you want to send to another address if you want to travel, or if you want to pick up the drugs you left at someone`s house. Whether you ship prescription drugs to your clients, family, friends or colleagues, it is very important that you follow the laws and regulations that govern the shipping of prescriptions or over-the-counter medications.

When you sign up a patient for prescription delivery, you must ensure that you confirm the desired mailing address and collect their payment information in accordance with your company`s policy. Before sending medication for delivery, you should call the patient to confirm their address and payment information, especially if it`s the first time something has been delivered or it`s been a while since they received anything. Also consider confirming expensive medications with patients. For example, your pharmacy may set a certain amount to contact the patient for confirmation, such as $50, $100, etc. Look for prescription refills that increase in price from the previous fill and confirm that the patient knows the price difference before sending it. State and provincial laws may vary, but generally, once the prescription leaves the pharmacy or delivery person`s possession, it cannot be restocked. You don`t want to put your pharmacy in a situation where a patient is compensated for an expensive drug that can`t be reused. If possible, sign patients up for SMS or email notifications so they are notified when their shipped medications have been delivered to their homes. If prescriptions sent by mail do not require a person to receive the package, it is important that patients are informed of deliveries. This way, they can immediately bring the recipe into a temperature-controlled environment. This is especially important during the winter and summer months, when extreme temperatures are more likely, and with medications that need to be refrigerated.

Note that the U.S. Postal Service has regulations for shipping controlled substances. Licensed pharmacies can ship prescription controlled substances as long as they are labeled in accordance with federal and state regulations. As mentioned above, requirements for controlled substances must be placed in a simple outer packaging that is free of labels that could indicate the nature of the contents. The title of this article is „Penalty for Shipping Prescription Drugs,” so this guide is designed to help you understand the impact of shipping drugs across state borders.