While traveling on vacation, you realize you have lost your prescription medications – now what do you do? Before you panic, think about how you can get your important medications replaced quickly. If you are traveling domestically, you can telephone your doctor or local pharmacy and ask that a local pharmacy be contacted to provide a new prescription.
If you are traveling internationally, it will be a bit more difficult getting your medication replaced as you will probably need to see a local doctor and discuss your situation so that a new prescription for your medication – or a similar medication if your medicine is not available locally – to be filled.
For those who have purchased travel insurance, contacting the assistance service company provided in the travel insurance policy will be the simplest way by far of getting your prescriptions replaced. Service personnel will make the calls to doctors and pharmacies at home and abroad and then advise you how best to proceed.
If you are in a foreign country without the benefit of a travel insurance policy with an assistance component and have difficulty navigating the local system, you may contact the US Embassy or the US Consulate in that area.
Contributor
Sheri Machat
Senior Vice President of MH Ross Travel Insurance Services. She joined the company in 1980 and has made a career of combining the two things she is most passionate about: people and travel.