First of all, I wasn't able to order anything from them because I live in Holland and they don't ship to Holland (more on that in a sec). But a friend of mine just started a job in New York a few months earlier, so I asked him to get a prescription from his doctor to test if NorthWest Pharmacy was scam or legit.
Apart from the strong feeling that the website was build and designed in the Reagan era, there where no problems ordering the cream. He just ordered a product that he has been using for his skin for years, because he had acne as a teen. So nothing fancy: Retin-A (tretinoïn).
After waiting three weeks, still no package. After four weeks... nothing...
So he called NorthWest Pharmacy, and a new package was already on it's way according the lady on the phone (probably wasn't.. but that doesn't matter for this review / experience..). What does matter:
Everybody who ever orders generics that originate from India knows this story; Customs seize the box or envelope containing the pills or cream somewhere and they ship a new one.
Almost seven(!) weeks after he ordered at North West, the package finally arrived!
North West - South East
It was stamped in the Seychelles, an island far to the south from Europe, next to Africa. Where the ocean water is so incredibly blue, that they hardly bothered creating business and tax laws. The tretinoïne cream was of the brand 'A-ret', made in the far east by the pharmaceutical company 'Shalaks', which is based in New Dehli, India.. Just another one of the many legit pharmaceutical companies in India.. According to my friend the tretinoïn cream was fine, so no complaints about the med itself... but.....
....that, of course is not the issue here: You pay to expect a Western branded drug or generic meant for the Western market. But at Northwest pharmacy you'll get cheap generic meds from India -although price in this case says nothing about the quality though- they are generally very good and treat in sheer numbers a far larger part of the world's population than 'big pharma' of the West. I believe Northwest keeps the story of the origins of the drugs as vague as possible. Just check the FAQ on their website.
NorthWest Pharmacy .com Scam? yes!
But is NorthWest Pharmacy .com scamming? In my opinion yes, absolutely! It seems like the Canadian branded store is -on execution level- a weird but effective way to convince American citizens they are legit and deliver the same drugs but at 'Canadian' prices. It's a slippery slope if you ask me. So you're better and cheaper off buying generics and brand prescription drugs at pharmacies who don't pretend to be something is, for instance AllRxSales.net. For me personally those are great, first of all because usually -at least- one of them also has the brand med in stock (and I'm a grown boy that can decide for myself if I want the generic or brand drug), and second of all... they ship all prescription drugs to Holland... but a LOT gets intercepted by customs here, and if we were to trade places, I'm not sure if I would ship to a country where one in three, maybe four, orders has to be resend (as in my case)....
Thank you, Big pharma, for lobbying and writing European import regulations...
Most online pharmacies don't send ANYTHING to Holland and Germany anymore, because paying 52% income tax buys us a lot of customs officers' paychecks apparently --- I truly wonder if there are like 25 of them standing in a row at a sorting table, shaking every suspicious carton box and bubble wrap envelope that crosses their sight - listening carefully if that distinct sound of blister strips comes along...paints quite a picture, doesn't it? :) ---Another drugstore from the Seychelles
Anyway, all of this happened a few months ago and I never found the time to write it all down. In the meantime I was telling this story to a friend of mine, just as a story while drinking a beer, and he said that he once ordered prescription drugs that had customs stamps from the Seychelles too! Although very interesting, I must admit that -at that moment- at least 50% of my thoughts were preoccupied with wondering what kind of prescription drugs he had ordered, and if it was ED or PE, if he would tell the truth or not :) But I'm wandering off again.Turns out, according to my friend, that it's Eurodrugstore.eu.. I have not verified this personally, but I did find a few forum posts here and there in a quick search for confirmation. Although Eurodrugstore.eu seems to have their offices on Cyprus (tax haven within the European Union).
There is something interesting about Euro Drugstore .eu... They are the only online pharmacy that I know of, that requires you to have a doctor's prescription to buy generics from India.. That can hardly be coincidence, right?
This is nothing more than an educated guess, so feel free to correct me: Could it be that Northwest Pharmacy .com just is a marketing strategy for the US market from the same people as Euro Drugstore. eu? Is there someone who can confirm or deny the link between North West Pharmacies and Eurodrugstore .eu?
All I know for sure at this moment that both qualify for the Top 5 ugliest online pharmacy websites...
Kudos if you read the whole story till this point! It surely wasn't my intention to spend this much time on discussing the Reagan era online drugstore Northwestpharmacy.com and if it is legit and/or a scam or not.And I see the story is a little incoherent, but I'll change it a bit in the morning.
Update: unfortunately I didn't have time to update this article, but thank you for the personal messages I have received.
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