medications

has Ecuador Government removed penalties for buying opioids

It would be nice to live somewhere that I could retire too and be treated properly.

@user159

So if you have prescriptions when you expat in your country be they opioids or say, biological for autoimmune conditions. Will you face difficulty in obtaining your meds? . If one has a chronic illness and takes medication- then it sounds like some planning needs to be done to insure access to complete healthcare, which includes easy access to required medication. Before you even think about living your best life there. I’m just saying…

- @bumpierswank0e

I have occasional need for prescription medications to help with occasional insomnia.

My experience in Guayaquil has been simple.

I walk down to our neighborhood doctor. His office is attached to his home. My first visit, i explained that my doc in the US prescribed me the medicine for the same reason. He asked me a few questions about my general health and then wrote my a prescription. Consult was 10 minutes and $10.

I took my prescription to the pharmacy around the corner. They had it in stock and i got a 30 day supply (which lasts me about 6 months) for $8.

- @lebowski888

Getting special meds the easy way.

Part 1.

When my sleep meds ran out this week,

I was expecting to take advantage of my

location in El Centro, Quito, one short

block from a dental practice I use.  There

is signage for a doctor there named Larco

although I'm not sure he has an office

of his own.  He's not there frequently.

I called up Dr. Larco at his office

in the suburb of Tumbaco .. and we

arranged for me to email my information

to him so I could pick up the document

known as the 'receta especial' at the

dental office near me.  Then I could

theoretically pick up the meds at

a Fybeca pharmacy.

My special meds had run out on

Monday night.  I was supposed to

pick up the 'receta' on Tuesday afternoon

after its delivery to the dental office

by a Larco relative.  This multi-step

plan would require Dr. Larco receiving

my info-email and properly filling out

the 'receta'.

Then I got a 'bounceback' email stating

that the infamous Mailer Daemon could

not do delivery of my information email

to the doctor.  I had left the letter 'm' off

of the dot-com part of the doctor's

email address. Holy cow!  This time

it was my mistake!

So there I was, with no more sleep

medicine for that evening .. and the

logistical impossibility of getting a

suburban Tumbaco doctor to

assist me in time.

Fortunately it was only 2 p.m.

Getting meds the easy way.

Part 2.

I then went online and Googled

a couple of phrases that included

the words 'a domicilio', meaning

home delivery.  I saw one of the

early listings was for Devita Medical,

a service that advertised it could

send a doctor to your home

24 hours a day.

As it turned out later, this was

the sane service that had ended my

June 2022 search for meds

with an ultimately successful

delivery to my condo.

Dr. Martín of Devita answered

the phone .. took some information

.. and a few minutes later, I

received a call that he would be

at my condo in 35 minutes.

Sure enough, the doctor appeared,

did a brief examination, asked me

about my medical history, and

then produced a flawless

'receta especial'.  I know it was

perfect becauseI inspected the

completed form closely, having

caught errors by other doctors

in the past.

I called Fybeca.  They told me

the location of their nearest

'sucursal' -- at Plaza del Teatro.

I walked the several blocks

over to there, and the prescription

was promptly refilled.

---

Notes:

Devita Medical is easily Googled.

I do not receive compensation

for discussing Devita Medical or

any other person or entity

mentioned on this thread.

cccmedia in Quito

The doctor I go to for my stupifying med receta on special blue paper is about a mile walk for me. He caters to gringos since he speaks perfect English. His office is adjacent to a Farmacia Económico owned by his parents. I imagine his parents own the building he works in as well, but never asked. When, I need a refill, I send him an email to schedule an appointment for the next day.

That was an apparent reference to 'estupefacientes',

which is a Spanish word for 'narcotics'.  It can be a

noun or a 'verbo'.

Source... wordreference.com

When a 'receta especial' is required.

Most pharmaceuticals needed by Expats can be

purchased over-the-counter in Ecuador's larger

cities, provided you know the Ecuadorian name

for the medicine.

Psicotrópicos and estupefacientes normally

require a 'receta especial' filled out by a specialist

doctor, whose fee may be higher than a

general practitioner's.

cccmedia in Quito

Recent pricing.

I paid the doctor from Devita Medical $30 for

his service 'a domicilio' that produced

the receta especial.

Fybeca charged me about eight dollars for

the medicine itself, a Benzo.

Fybeca sold me 30 tablets at my request, but

the pharmacist said I could obtain a total of

90 tables or three months' supply in a

single purchase.  I have emailed Dr. Lorca

to upgrade me to 60 additional tablets in

the still-to-be-produced 'receta' for which I

paid earlier at the dental office ($35).

cccmedia in Quito

That was an apparent reference to 'estupefacientes',

which is a Spanish word for 'narcotics'. It can be a noun or a 'verbo'.

Source... wordreference.com

-@cccmedia

My Oxford Spanish dictionary app indicates a noun or adjective. I misspelled it, but stupefying is an adjective as well.