Domenic

Hi Guys

Please can someone provide advice on the following:

My girlfriend and I have to take the following prescription medication to australia:

Migraine tablets
Special skin creme
Inhalers

We are unsure if we need to take a letter from our doctor's to say that these are prescribed when going through customs upon arrival in Australia.

When I spoke to my doctor's today, I was told that as long as they are in our main luggage rather than hand luggage then a letter is not required!

Can anyone please advise what should be done for taking these into australia, should they be declared and should they go into hand luggage or not?

Many thanks

Dom

Pollyana

To be on the safe side ask for a letter. There shouldn't be a problem bringing them in, but you should declare any drugs on entry, and Customs may want to be sure that they are actually for you - I'm thining mainly of the migraine pills. Also, bring them in the packaging and with labels.
Hold luggage would be best - depending on where you transit through, the migraine pills may not actually be legal (Dubai is the place that comes to mind especially here), so if the drugs are in your hold luggage you don't have to worry about having them on your person.

Flutterby

I didn't ask for a letter although might do in future, I did declare them when I went through though as they are steroid medications but they were labelled with my name and address and the issuing pharmacy. Was quite good as we got fast tracked then and didn't have to join the long queue!

asher

As a veteran of drugs do not put them in your suitcase keep them in hand luggage to show them have your repeat prescription with them on and you will be fine. But check they are legal in the country you refuel/stop off at.

You can take drugs through in that situation but you would need GP letters I have morphine and codeine and went through abu dhabi with a gp letter fine

Dorothy

Have to agree with Asher on this one. Prescriptions should be in your hand luggage. If for some reason your hold luggage gets lost you would be without your meds. When we came we brought doctor's notes for my son's meds and mine. They weren't needed, but it was better to be safe than sorry.

Nige37

You won't be allowed to bring onboard the plane any more than 100ml of liquids ie. skin cream, just give the airline call and get them to confirm by email.

homewardbound

i declared mine and they didnt want to know.

I do wish however that i had brought a huge stash of Migraleve as I cannot find it anywhere here - had 2 migraines in the last week and been very sick and nauseus... they most the chemist would give me was nurofen migraine which was next to useless on a full blown attack.

Pollyana

They generally don't want to know when you declare them, same as most food stuffs, but better safe than sorry.

stumpysean

So you can't buy 'Imgran' then like you can here in the UK?

SillyOldBag

My fiance has epilepsy and when we went over to the UK for a visit for him to meet my family, we were advised to take a letter from the doctor specifying his condition and the treatment. He's also on strong pain-killers periodically for a knee injury and that was also specified in the letter. Going through Customs was not an issue but the letter proved to be a god-send as he needed to see a doctor while we were in England and it made getting additional medicine MUCH easier.

Dorothy

Probably. It may just be called something different here. Check for what the ingredients are and look for the Aussie equivelent.

E3only

Get a letter and declare it. They wnat to just check .Keeping it in the lugguage does not change a think - they still have the right tocheck that......get the letter and the medicine and you should be f ine....

Domenic

Thanks for all your advice guys.

I went back to the doctor's yesterday and they were still insistant that a letter was not required

Anyway, I have been put on a phone call list to speak to one of the doctor's at my surgery on Monday to sort it all out!

We are travelling via Hong Kong - how do I find out if the medication is legal or not there?

Thanks guys

Dom

Pollyana

SEE HERE
I suggest you print this out and take it to the doctor.

I am travelling to Australia by plane or ship and need to bring my medication with me. What do I need to do?
Provided that your medication IS NOT subject to regulation 5H (or in certain circumstances regulation 5G) of the import regulations you can bring it into Australia for the purpose of treating your own medical condition or treating a passenger who is under your care, provided that you have a prescription or a letter from your doctor to confirm that the medicine was prescribed by a medical practitioner.



Best I can find on Hong Kong is THIS which again suggests that a letter and/or repeat prescription would be good.
I've found imilar info on Hong Kong in a couple of other places, and nothing to suggest that anything as a big risk - not like Dubai and codeine for example.

GinaUK

I had about a year's worth of prescription medication with me in my hand luggage. No letter from doctor, but obviously everything had my name on it.

Australian customs in Perth weren't interested in the slightest. Had our luggage sniffed by the dogs for food and then x-rayed as well. But we had no food with us and that was it. Waved straight through.

Gina