Breaking Down Barriers to Medication Access

Discover how you can manage the financial strain of chronic illnesses with insights from Laura and Jamie of Universal Drugstore, who join us for a candid discussion on medication affordability. We begin with Laura's heartfelt account of living with juvenile arthritis and how the exorbitant drug prices in the U.S. compare to more affordable international options. Learn about Universal Drugstore’s two-decade commitment to connecting patients with licensed international pharmacies, providing a reliable lifeline for those struggling to keep up with the cost of long-term prescriptions.

As safety concerns often arise with international pharmacies, we tackle these head-on with Jamie, Universal Drugstore's in-house pharmacist. With two decades of experience ensuring the safety and quality of medications, Jamie explains their rigorous standards and global sourcing practices to keep patients safe. Plus, we share advancements in drug therapies for autoimmune diseases, providing listeners with the latest options and innovations, including stem cell therapy. You'll hear about my role in making this complex information accessible and understandable for all patients.

We then shift our focus to empowering patients beyond medication, highlighting the importance of accurate medical content and community support. Learn about our collaboration with content and analytics experts to ensure consumer-focused information and the vital role of reliable sources like clinical studies. We encourage tapping into national foundations and local societies for support and invite you to share feedback to help us enhance our services. Universal Drugstore remains dedicated to providing affordable and safe medication solutions while fostering a supportive community for those living with chronic conditions.


URL for the website is: 

https://www.universaldrugstore.com/

Contact: 

Email: info@universaldrugstore.com

Phone: 1-866-456-2456

Instagram: @universaldrugstore

Promo code: JENNI2025, for 15% off your next order.
Link is: https://www.universaldrugstore.com?promotion_code=JENNI2025

Hi, Jen here! We are so glad to have you back. I want to personally thank those that have signed up with Rare Patient Voice recently. We love your support of the podcast, and this is another way that you can by signing up with Rare Patient Voice through our referral link. Remember, we're here to support you every step of the way. 

Chapters

• 0:00 Navigating Chronic Illness With Universal Drugstore
• 12:34 Navigating Drug Safety and Patient Care
• 17:02 Empowering Patients With Chronic Illness
• 23:00 Global Pharmacy Savings and Consumer Care

Transcript

Jen: 0:08

Welcome back my Spoonie sisters. I'm your host, jennifer Weaver, and today we have an important episode I know many of you will love. Navigating chronic illness can often feel like a full-time job, especially when it comes to managing medications, dealing with high prescription costs and making sure you have access to what you need. That's why I'm excited to introduce you to two amazing guests today from Universal Drugstore. Laura will tell us all about the resources her company provides to help patients afford and access their medications. We'll also be joined by their in-house pharmacist, jamie, to dive into the clinical side of things. Whether you're struggling with rising drug prices or just curious about how international drug stores can benefit people with chronic conditions, this episode will provide insight and practical advice. So let's jump in. Hi, laura and Jamie. How are you two today?

Laura: 1:03

Good.

Jen: 1:04

Happy to be here. I'm so glad to have you two here and for listeners who may not be familiar with what Universal Drugstore is, can you start by explaining what you do and how your service supports patients managing chronic illnesses?

Laura: 1:21

For sure To introduce myself as well. I'm Laura. I'm very happy to be here and, as I've told you, Jen, when I was a kid I actually had juvenile arthritis growing up, so this podcast definitely strikes a very personal chord for me. I genuinely am very happy to be here now, representing a company that hopes to play a small role in easing the chronic condition journey. But back to your question. The way I like to frame it is first by starting with the landscape of where we are today, and that is the fact that currently in the US, 130 million people battle chronic conditions every day, with actually 42% having more than one. And as you know, as your listeners know, having a chronic condition is stressful enough, and being able to afford the medication that enables you to take care of your kids, go to work and just live your everyday life should not be contributing to that stress. But unfortunately, in the US, medication costs actually are 150% more versus neighboring countries, which is wild. But that is where Universal Drugstore plays a role.

Jen: 2:31

That is absolutely mind-boggling to me. I know.

Laura: 2:34

I know Same, and so this is really where we come into play, and that is the fact that UDS is Canada's most established prescription referral services. We've actually been operating for over 20 years. I believe we were established in 2001. But what we do is we essentially help give individuals access to more affordable medication. So what we do is our service connects patients with a licensed pharmacist at an international pharmacy, so, for example, in Canada, where, with a valid prescription, they can purchase the same brand name or generic medication for up to 80% less versus US pharmacies, and the medication is then delivered right to your doorstep.

Jen: 3:17

So to go along with that. How exactly does that work? What is your sourcing process?

Laura: 3:22

Yes, great question. So essentially, what we do is we only work with licensed pharmacies who source their medication from pharmaceutical companies. So, like any pharmacy in the US or in Canada or the UK, they would source their medication from pharmaceutical companies. So, like any pharmacy in the US or in Canada or the UK, they would source their medication from manufacturers like Janssen, pfizer, novo Nordisk. And also all of the medication from those pharmacies have to be approved by the equivalent body to that country's FDA. So, for example, in Canada, canada doesn't actually have an FDA. That is an American thing. We have Health Canada, which is our governing body, but if you think about it, pharmaceutical companies essentially manufacture medication and that it is globally distributed. So we simply connect the customer with the pharmacy that they can then import the medication.

Jen: 4:10

Wow. So a lot of people with chronic illnesses. They also worry about the cost of long-term medications. So how can Universal Drugstore help patients save money while still getting the medications that they need?

Laura: 4:22

Yeah, great question. And I would say for UDS, the biggest thing that we offer is our price. We spend a lot of time doing price analytics to just make sure that our prices are good and we're offering customers the best value we can. And sometimes, due to the market or landscape changes, we're able to lower our prices, which we do, and then we let our customers know. So I would say, at the bare minimum, we have a base price that is very strong, and then, in addition to that, we also have other layers, like a loyalty program. So every dollar you spend you can collect loyalty points and those points will be contributed to a purchase, your next purchase, kind of thing. And then we also have a series of promo codes. We're actually offering one to listeners today. I don't know where it'll go, but maybe link in bio Show notes, definitely the show notes, right, show notes everyone.

Jen: 5:21

So you can save 15% off if you listen today but we definitely value price at the foremost to be extremely transparent. That's wonderful. So to go with that, what says Universal Drugstore apart from other online international pharmacies, and what are the key benefits for people who choose to use your service?

Laura: 5:33

Yeah. So the thing that I always come back to is that we have been operating for over 20 years, so we really do have a track record of safety and success, and we've had customers that have been with us for many, many years, so something is working well. So that definitely is encouraging. But when I'm doing my own research on the business, I always look at the reviews, I look at what our customers are saying, and a clear thing that always comes up over and over again is our customer service team.

Laura: 6:04

I know from my own experience purchasing medicine, dealing with the healthcare system all of that is a very vulnerable process, and I don't want to deal with a email service or a bot. I want to talk to a person, I want clarity, I want transparency, and that is what we offer. We do not use robots. We use real people who Jamie and I both know, and they are there through every step of the journey, and so that is definitely something that I have heard from our consumers really sets us apart. And then the last thing I'll just plug to is we have over 4,000 medication on our website in OTC, prescription medicine and even some pet medicine, so we just do have a really strong assortment, so chances are too, you'll be able to find the medicine you're looking for.

Jen: 6:49

That's fantastic and I bet consumers can find something they're not even expecting to find on there.

Laura: 6:55

Yep, for sure. Yeah, maybe for your pet who knows Absolutely.

Jen: 7:00

Can you walk us through the process? Oh, Jamie, did you have something to chime in?

Jamie: 7:04

And sometimes there are actually generics available in other countries before they are available in the US, which helps with cost obviously, Because the US just has such a stringent way they work with patents that other countries just don't do so. Sometimes that helps.

Jen: 7:25

And I think that's probably where you would come in really handy too, because you could probably tell us about the generics we don't even know about.

Laura: 7:31

Yes, that is a good point, though, is our system will connect the customer with whichever country offers the same medicine for the lower price, so I think that's a really good point to emphasize.

Jen: 7:45

Wow, that's amazing. Now can you walk us through the process of ordering medication through the universal Drugstore? What can a first-time customer expect?

Laura: 7:55

Yes, so we have a website, wwwuniversaldrugstorecom. So the first step in the process would be to set up an account and from there we would send you a welcome journey to get your account formalized. Once that happens, it's basically shopping time, so you can look through the website, add to cart, check out and purchase the products that you need, and then from there we will then contact you to get all of the information required. So if you purchase a prescription medication, we would obviously need a valid prescription, which we would need from you, and then from there we go through our validation process. So that means we would be going through the documents, contacting your doctor to making sure everything is legitimate, and once that is all approved, then your order will be confirmed. And that is when you're charged too. So you're not charged in the initial phase, you're charged after everything is approved and then it's shipped right to your doorstep.

Laura: 8:50

But I will also call out that, like I said, the business started in 2001. Initially it was just calls and fax machines, and we still have that infrastructure today. So if you're not comfortable using a website, or if you don't want to, you can very much do this whole process over the phone fax machine. So multiple options.

Jen: 9:08

Okay, I have a question that is not even in our notes and I'm not even sure which one of you needs to answer this question, but for someone like me, I'm on some specialty medications, I have rheumatoid arthritis, and so I can't just pick that up at a regular CVS, do you?

Laura: 9:26

offer the specialty medications as well. Jamie, maybe I'll pass this to you, but it would depend on the medicine, because we do have strong assortment and multiple countries resourcing. So I want to say there's a higher chance we would have it versus other pharmacies. But, Jamie, I'll pass it to you.

Jamie: 9:41

Yeah, it would depend on the medication. A lot of those specialty ones yes, there's, there should be some of them that we do we could find in other countries, but it just depends.

Jen: 10:57

That's good to know. And what should patients know about shipping times and availability? Are there particular challenges that come with getting prescriptions from outside their home country For a new?

Laura: 11:06

customer, you can anticipate a two to four week process to get your medicine. But I will caveat that is a like once you go through that process, once the refill process is seamless, it's the hit of a button. We handle it all very easy. It'll arrive in a very much a cycle when you need it. So it's kind of some upfront time for long term savings and convenience. But that's kind of more about the shipping times.

Jen: 11:43

Okay, and I think you know that's something that most of us would expect anyway when you're ordering something online like that. Yeah, do you also offer any additional support services like prescription management or consultations with pharmacists like Jamie to help patients keep track of their medications?

Laura: 12:00

Yeah, so we. That process is very standard to a typical pharmacy. We have a staff of pharmacists available to chat and consult on medication. They're available Monday through Friday. We also have backend software. That is the same software that a normal pharmacy would use. Essentially, if you're buying two drugs from us, it can call out interactions and then we can have a consult with you. But, Jamie, feel free to add if there is anything else there you wanted to call out.

Jamie: 12:27

No, and we do have. I guess we have callbacks, I guess, when there are people available also.

Jen: 12:35

What would you say to someone who's hesitant to use an international pharmacy due to the stigma around safety and legality, and how can they be confident in the care they receive through the universal drugstore?

Laura: 12:47

Yeah, that's a really fair and great question. That was definitely something that I was thinking about when it came to UDS as well, and something that I come back to over and over again is the fact that we have been operating for 20 years. So again I'm like, okay, something is working, people are satisfied, people are getting what they need. But the other way I think about it is you're essentially sourcing the same medication. So, for example, if I'm in the US and I want to purchase Advil and then I go back to Canada and I purchase Advil there, they're both Advil made by Pfizer. It's just a border. So that's kind of the way that I think about it. And then the last point that I will say, too, is, again, we are here to navigate it with you. We have a huge staff of customer service support who are happy to answer any questions that you may have. They're great, they're very active. So if you do have any questions that you have, call us.

Jen: 13:46

All right. So, jamie, I'm kind of turning it over to you at this point. As a consulting pharmacist for Universal Drugstore, how do you help guide the creation of content that is both educational and accessible for patients managing chronic illnesses?

Jamie: 13:59

Well, a little background. I graduated pharmacy school at the University of South Carolina in 2002. I've been writing medical and drug blogs for 10 plus years. I mean I've written a couple of thousand, literally reviewed and edited probably even more for a number of companies. We have writers on staff pharmacy school students, people with medical backgrounds that are helping write some of the drug content and stuff. When it comes to our content, we want it to be unbiased, honest, fair. So none of it's sponsored, nobody's paying us to write a blog or anything about a medication. So you know it's all up to me. You know it's objective, it's honest. You know we write it. We try to write it to where anybody with any educational background can understand it, because I know a lot of, you know I do a lot of clinical studies and stuff and most people can't understand it. So we try to, you know, put it in a way everybody can understand.

Laura: 15:07

Yeah, jamie will send feedback to our writers and be like too clinical, too technical. The information's correct, but we need this to be something everyone can understand understand.

Jen: 15:23

That's important because a lot of times you get people that they're not in the medical field, they're not familiar and they just want to understand what the medication is, how it's going to help them. The basics.

Jamie: 15:31

I worked retail pharmacy for 10 plus years, so I've, you know, I've seen every walk of life, every bit of education, doctors to high school dropout. So you know I learned to how to communicate very clinical information to the everyday person, and that's what I, that's what I'm trying to strive for with the content we have on there Easy to digest, straightforward, objective, honest.

Jen: 15:59

That's fantastic and absolutely important for all of us to have. When it comes to drug-related trends, especially in the context of the autoimmune disease, like rheumatoid arthritis and psoriasis, what recent developments have you noticed and how does Universal Drugstore ensure patients are well-informed?

Jamie: 16:17

You know my mother had rheumatoid arthritis. So you know, back then that was early 2000s, I think what was available? Methotrexate, rava, maybe corticosteroids, opioids we just started on that.

Jen: 16:31

Not a lot.

Jamie: 16:33

I think she tried Humira and maybe Remicade, if I remember correctly. But even in the past 10 years there have been so many developments. I mean oral medications that will help patients not have to go get an infusion once every four to eight weeks or give an injection themselves. I've seen research on stem cell therapy. That looks promising, even though I think that would probably be a little too expensive for the average consumer. You know we looked at trends. I subscribe to a bunch of mailing lists from like Medscape and big med info companies. I get way too many emails and I can go through. Try to pick out, you know, some of the most relevant and popular ones for our consumers. Work with Laura and her team. You know we look at trends. Like I said, we look and see what people are actually searching so we can kind of tailor some of the information to. You know what our consumers might actually be looking for that's definitely helpful.

Jen: 17:37

What role do you play in making sure that the content on the Universal Drugstore website reflects accurate and up-to-date medical information, especially concerning new treatments or potential side effects?

Jamie: 17:51

I review every piece of information that's on that site. I have literally read or approved everything. I look at sources. I like clinical studies, you know, I don't just I don't like sourcing, just other websites, because you know I look at their website and I see where their sources are and then I go back to make sure it's accurate and not misinterpreted and stuff like that. It's a lot of reading, a lot of clinical studies.

Jen: 18:24

I bet I can only imagine how much reading you have to do in a day.

Jamie: 18:28

I don't read for fun anymore, because I read so much.

Laura: 18:32

You're fast, though, like you're a fast reader, I'm always like whoa.

Jen: 18:36

Wow, how do you collaborate with the Universal Drugstore team to address the most common medication-related concerns from chronic illness patients, and what resources do you recommend to empower them in their health journey?

Jamie: 18:50

So I work with Laura. We have, you know, teams with like SEO and people that can actually run numbers on. You know, if I see something I'll ask them. You know how popular is this? You know are people actually looking for this? You know we try to find something that seems relevant to our customers, but that is, you know also, you know, fairly popular that. You know the more popular is obviously, the more people it might reach. What was the second part of your question? I'm sorry.

Jen: 19:19

Here. Give me two seconds and I will pull it up. That's okay, Okay.

Jamie: 19:28

Second part of the question, and what resources do you recommend? You know like, especially for chronic illnesses? There are a lot of, you know, national foundations for each chronic illness. You can also Google, look for like local, you know, arthritis, cancer societies, that sort of thing. You know, when you have an illness like that, you know having a community of people that you can rely on for support, information and that sort of thing is vital.

Laura: 19:53

I think that's a good point. I've been a part of the arthritis society professionally and personally and like I think it is a excellent spot for, and again like I had juvenile arthritis, so it was great resources for my parents who are like helping to navigate it. But I think that's a great point, jamie.

Jamie: 20:10

And I've also I've worked with like when I lived in, you know I had worked with some a local cancer society and I you know I've done other you know stuff like that. So and that was amazing I mean, just like the community aspect of that was support wise was just amazing. I can't express how helpful that was. The help that I saw it gave to people that were going through something so hard like that.

Jen: 20:39

If I can agree with you to any more than that because, honestly, I think you know it can be a dangerous thing to Google, right. But at the same time, if you are being careful at what you are researching and looking into and looking for reputable companies and local, it's going to find you a wealth of knowledge and support.

Jamie: 20:58

Yeah, If you Google the like arthritis foundation, I think my good days was a good one that I saw that had like a good list of chronic illnesses, that had like local kind of chapters I guess. But yeah, it's, it's out there yet, but it's sometimes it is hard to figure out what's reputable and what's not.

Laura: 21:18

Yeah, I feel like even I've seen things that are like tips for if you're newly diagnosed, tips for, like, people who have arthritis in their hands, like how to open a jar, like things that you could do at home to like tactically improve your day-to-day life, which so big and small, which I think is super important.

Jen: 21:37

I agree, and I think sometimes those step-by-step instructions, as simple as they sound, they are really important and they are very helpful to people that are new in that area of life. Yeah, so we've ran through all of our questions, but I know there's so much more we could probably discuss. Laura, is there anything that we haven't gone over that you can think of that is important for listeners to hear? Let?

Laura: 22:02

me think I feel like I covered kind of the basics of what our company is, what we do, but I will say like, if there are any listeners out here that do have feedback or questions about the service, like, feel free to contact us. Our social media handles are at like. We're very active on Instagram, so at Universal Drugstore I am on it and my coworkers are on it, so if you do want to access us, that is a great channel to do that. But, again, we are very much evolving. So if there is any feedback on how we could better serve the chronic condition community, I would say that would be really helpful. If there's information that anyone is looking for that maybe it didn't share, or feedback they had on the website, please let me know. That is something we're really open to talking about.

Jen: 22:52

Absolutely. And, jamie, do you have anything that you would?

Jamie: 22:56

like to add. I want to shout out to Jeff Doan, the owner of the company. He's a pharmacist as well. He really has structured a very consumer-driven, seamless business. Being a pharmacist, he knows that the consumer is the most important thing safety, availability, that sort of thing. And I'm not sure how much your listeners know about medicines from other countries. The way and the reason why it is cheaper in other countries is because their government sets price limits on what they can charge. So the U S it's just capitalism at its finest, so it's as much as they can get. So that's why you can save so much money sourcing it from other countries.

Jen: 23:50

Absolutely Good point. Well, I'm so excited that the two of you could take the time out of your day to come and share with our listeners all about everything that Universal Drugstore has to offer, and I, just like I said, I appreciate your time and all of the knowledge that you've shared.

Jamie: 24:08

Thank you so much for having us.

Laura: 24:10

Thanks for having us.

Jen: 24:11

Well, I will share all of the important links and information in the show notes so everyone can get in contact with you and get this set up. And listeners, until next time. Don't forget your spoon.