Is Buying Discount Drugs in Foreign Countries a Good Idea?

Whether it's vacationers stocking up on prescriptions or Internet surfers who order their medications from foreign pharmacies online, purchasing meds from abroad has been touted as a great way to save money—and for good reason. The United States is one of the few countries in the world in which the government doesn’t control or negotiate the price of prescription drugs, and as a result, brand-name drugs are on average 35% to 55% cheaper in other industrialized countries than they are in the U.S.

As tempting as it is to view the world as one big discount pharmacy, buying prescription drugs abroad isn’t a foolproof way to save money. For one thing, it may be illegal.