The Mexican Scams
I live 5 miles from Los Algadones Mexico, so I have the opportunity to visit quite often. In the process of spending years visiting Mexico at least once a week I have been scammed and seen a multitude of fixed income individuals scammed.
It tends to work something like this. You head to Mexico to purchase your prescription drastically cheaper than in the United States, but you don't know what to look for and what the law is in Mexico. You are walking down the street in a border town and a caller hands you a card and tells you that you will receive a 20% discount if you show this card in the pharmacy right here. Sounds like a good deal so you head into the pharmacy and ask for you high blood pressure medication. They say it's 14.00 us is that ok...Is that ok yes! That's great I'll take it. They put your bottle in a bag and you pay for it and your on your way. After a week you notice your blood pressure has risen so you make an appointment to see your physician. He asks if you have been taking your medication and you tell him yes, so he ups the dose. It may seem to help, or it may do nothing.
What went wrong in the above scenario? Lots! To begin with at most pharmacies the caller works on commission only. That actually raise the price if you give them the card! Second mistake is that if your life depends on your medication you should ask for NAME BRAND while shopping in Mexico. It tends to be a little safer, and what is a few bucks when your already saving so much. Generic drugs in Mexico run the gambit from just fine to under dosed to nothing but starch. Hey and why didn't you look at the bottle? You should always check the bottle or box to make sure the expiration date and lot number were printed on the label AFTER the fact, the scammers just don't seem to bother with this. While your looking at the expiration date is it still current? Remember it is hotter in Mexico, and drugs are usually not stored in air conditioning, so drugs go bad quicker than the U.S..
Additionally make sure the drugs are legal to bring back into the U.S.. Obviously no steroids, narcotics, or things like Phen-Phen that are illegal in the united States. If you are not going to declare an illegal drug at the border and you are caught, you are in BIG trouble. You will receive a fine and probably prison time.
Other than this use your common sense. Stay in the crowded areas where you see other Americans, because you don't want to end up by yourself looking for the bathroom in an alley. Recently drug dealers have been known to kill Americans for their money when the Americans travel to the wrong place. These murders have been happening further south into Mexico, not in the border towns. And of course have fun in Mexico and east some Carne Asada for me.