If you’re like 70% of the American population (and me) you take at least one prescription medication.
But, in this day of skyrocketing drug costs and massive insurance red tape, how does a survivalist stockpile the medications that are important for their (and their family’s) survival?
Dr. Cynthia J. Koelker has a valuable article on this topic, over at Survival Blog. You’ll want to read the entire post, but here’s a quick overview of her suggestions involving prescription drug survival planning:
Out-dated drugs aren’t actually expired. Drug “expiration dates” are comparable to “best if used by” dates.
Fish antibiotics are the same as human antibiotics. At least in many cases this is true. Keep in mind that fish antibiotics are legally sold OTC for aquarium use, not for human ingestion.
OTC drugs are as strong as prescription drugs. Why don’t people believe this? I think it’s largely because when the average person visits a physician, they want something “better” than they could have procured on their own, thus making the trip to the doctor “worthwhile.”
Many medicines don’t work most of the time. In many situations, drugs offer little or no benefit over “tincture of time.” Many illnesses that are often treated with medicine would resolve on their own, given a little more time (than impatient Americans allow).
We think this advice from The Weekend Prepper is solid as well:
…your best way to build a stockpile is to get your family doctor on board with what you are doing. This will mean having a frank discussion about why you want to have a many month to a year or longer supply of the drugs you take every day under your personal control.
You don’t need to talk end of the world scenarios. Just talk about how you worry about all sorts of natural disasters and supply chain issues.And talk about how you would prefer to be OK in any situation and would rather have a supply that you will never need over not having a supply when you need it most.
These are things a doctor can easily relate to as he will already be aware of the major weather disasters that have happened and also aware of the variety of drug shortage situations that have developed over the past few years. (And if a doctor understands and believes in the prepper mind set, so much the better.)
So if you find that your doctor will work with you, most of the problem is solved. She will be able to get you samples to help you build a stockpile, let you switch to buying a three month at time supply, etc. There is a good chance that you will even be able to secure supplies of common antibiotics if you can show your doctor that you understand when and how to use them.
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Photo by Dawn McIlvain Stahl licensed under Creative Commons 2.0.
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