[coloma gold]

New hurdle to overcome...
I find that having prescribed drugs sent to France requires that an authorization be obtained... the drugs are prescribed by the doctors (in US) but sent by a pharmaceutical company (that will not ship outside the US). I am therefore having them sent to a relative to be forwarded. However, I find that in order to pass Customs, there must first be an authorization... Does anyone know about this and how /where I obtain this authorization? The drugs are paid for by my employee retirement medical coverage and obtaining them in France is very expensive as they would not be covered by the plan(hence, I do not want to buy them in France).

 

[Bevdeforges]

Normally, I'd say that you should talk to a pharmacist in France. But seeing as that will cut into his income directly, I'm not sure that's the best approach.

The safest approach is simply to bring a health supply with you in your luggage when you come. As long as it's for personal use, you should have no problem with even up to a year's supply.

But, if you're planning on remaining on your employee retirement coverage while you're living in France, then you will need to get a French doctor to prescribe the same thing (or the French equivalent). If your retirement coverage won't cover medications in France, I'm a little surprised it passes the visa test - i.e. counts as coverage "equal to" the French national plan.
Cheers,
Bev