Bringing Injectable Birth Control to U.S.

[mrsaright 0]

Ok, according to the U.S. Customs Guidelines, Medicines are allowable into the U.S. if needed for a real health problem and a prescription may be necessary as well. I'm currently taking an injectable birth control that is widely available in Brazil "Perlutan" and it is obtainable almost without a prescription. To my knowledge, this particular brand is not available in the U.S. And there is no other injectable birth control available other than the Depo-Provera (which I'm not crazy about).

Anyway, my question is 1) will I be able to legally bring this with me... it's not for a "health problem", but for contraception. I have the prescription (in portuguese).

My other question is 2) will I be able to bring more than one dose with me? i.e. enough for a year? i.e. 12 doses? They come in 1-dose packages, that should be injected each month, and I would prefer to have enough with me until I find an alternative method once I'm back in the U.S.--and carry with me the maximum amount that I would be able to carry.

The prescription doesn't have a limit on the number of times I can request the birth control (kind of good for ever). And the only date on there is the date that he wrote the prescription (but it's not obvious what the date indicates... it could be construed as the issue date or the expiration date). Any ideas?

[Dan J 277]

Ok, according to the U.S. Customs Guidelines, Medicines are allowable into the U.S. if needed for a real health problem and a prescription may be necessary as well. I'm currently taking an injectable birth control that is widely available in Brazil "Perlutan" and it is obtainable almost without a prescription. To my knowledge, this particular brand is not available in the U.S. And there is no other injectable birth control available other than the Depo-Provera (which I'm not crazy about).

Anyway, my question is 1) will I be able to legally bring this with me... it's not for a "health problem", but for contraception. I have the prescription (in portuguese).

My other question is 2) will I be able to bring more than one dose with me? i.e. enough for a year? i.e. 12 doses? They come in 1-dose packages, that should be injected each month, and I would prefer to have enough with me until I find an alternative method once I'm back in the U.S.--and carry with me the maximum amount that I would be able to carry.

The prescription doesn't have a limit on the number of times I can request the birth control (kind of good for ever). And the only date on there is the date that he wrote the prescription (but it's not obvious what the date indicates... it could be construed as the issue date or the expiration date). Any ideas?

This page should give you the information you need: http://www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/travel/vacation....xml#Medication

They seem more concerned with medicines containing narcotics. The general rule of thumb i have heard however, is that you can bring a 3 months supply with you. Although you would have to switch, it is not difficult to get birth control here in the US.

Edited February 27, 2008 by Dan + Gemvita

[mrsaright 0]

That's a great site. But it said to look at the FDA website, and this is what I found:

"The Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (Act) prohibits the interstate shipment (which includes importation and exportation) of unapproved new drugs. Thus, the importation of new drugs that lack FDA approval, whether for personal use or otherwise, violates the Act. Unapproved new drugs include any drugs--including foreign-made versions of U.S. approved drugs--that have not been manufactured in accordance with FDA approval."

http://www.fda.gov/cder/about/smallbiz/importExportInfo.htm

Which means that I may get lucky and may be able to bring the BC with me, because I know they are not available in the U.S. which means technically I cannot bring them in with me... but if I get a nice customs officer he may sympathize with my need for birth control and let me get in with them.

Edited February 27, 2008 by mrsaright

[Amby 490]

haha this is something I never thought of! I always brought like a 6-12 month supply with me to England because I would convince my dr to give me tons of sample 1-month packs. I wonder if I was being illegal? ooooooh bad amber

[mrsaright 0]

haha this is something I never thought of! I always brought like a 6-12 month supply with me to England because I would convince my dr to give me tons of sample 1-month packs. I wonder if I was being illegal? ooooooh bad amber

if you were going TO England there must be different rules. The FDA only prohibits bringing medications into the US that wouldn't be prescribable in the US. As for going out, that's a different story. Also, these are injectable birth control--so they are in little glass bottles that contain the liquid inside. Not your regular-looking birth control pill.

[Amby 490]

haha this is something I never thought of! I always brought like a 6-12 month supply with me to England because I would convince my dr to give me tons of sample 1-month packs. I wonder if I was being illegal? ooooooh bad amber

if you were going TO England there must be different rules. The FDA only prohibits bringing medications into the US that wouldn't be prescribable in the US. As for going out, that's a different story. Also, these are injectable birth control--so they are in little glass bottles that contain the liquid inside. Not your regular-looking birth control pill.

I never told them I had pills that's what I mean by bad amber hehe I never thought it would be necessary I just play dumb if anything comes up

[Alex & Rachel 78]

haha this is something I never thought of! I always brought like a 6-12 month supply with me to England because I would convince my dr to give me tons of sample 1-month packs. I wonder if I was being illegal? ooooooh bad amber

I hadn't thought of it either! Only three months' supply? I've been saving up my birth control pills (as I don't exactly need them right now) and was going to take a year's supply with me (hurrah for the NHS giving out six months' worth of pills without the need for a check-up!)