It would seem reasonable that you could have controlled drugs on board, just
in case...
The reality is that the regulators are always looking for some
doc to hang out
to dry so they can put another notch in their gun belts
and some sheriff who
can barely speak a coherent sentence can grand
stand in front of the TV
cameras...
No one is going to just walk into my
office and walk out with a script for
Morphine or Demerol or Vicodin, or whatever - not in this
lifetime...

denny / k8do

--- On Mon, 9/7/09, passagemaking-under-power-request@lists.samurai.com
passagemaking-under-power-request@lists.samurai.com wrote:

From: passagemaking-under-power-request@lists.samurai.com
passagemaking-under-power-request@lists.samurai.com
Subject: Passagemaking-Under-Power Digest, Vol 58, Issue 7
To: passagemaking-under-power@lists.samurai.com
Date: Monday, September 7, 2009, 12:00 AM

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Today's Topics:

1. Medical Spares (R. A. McCall)

Message: 1
Date: Sun, 6 Sep 2009 13:29:55 -0500
From: "R. A. McCall" mccallr@gmail.com
To: passagemaking-under-power@lists.samurai.com
Subject: [PUP]  Medical Spares
Message-ID:
cde69a6f0909061129yf753474j347c146886675678@mail.gmail.com
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

From: "bob Austin" thataway4@cox.net
You have to have prescriptions for any drug which you would need a
prescription in your home country (not just narcotics), by law in the US.
Every voyaging vessel has the right to have a full medical kit aboard.  Keep
an copy of the written prescription from the physician who wrote it.
The only place (we have been to over 40 countries) where we were asked about
hour medical kit was in Prince Rupert BC, Canada.  No other inspections (and
we had some very rigorous inspections for weapons and illegeal drugs) were
concerned with the ship's medicine chest.

Bob,

When I bought my boat, the first thing I did was talk to my Doctor about
setting up a medical kit for long distance running.

His comment was "buy one of those medical kits from a Pharmacy, that should
be sufficient."

When I asked about pain meds and such, he said I didn't need them, although
the CG required that I get a First Aid Card.

Having spent sometime in the military, we carried sealed med kits with us
that contained all of the basic meds, including morphine. Once the seal was
broken, it had to be inventoried daily and everything accounted for.  This
was great preparation as long as no one broke into the kit for drugs, which
did happen from time to time.

I would have preferred to have that kind of preparation since I was trained
to handle basic emergencies, rather than the little bandaid kit I now have!
But it seems the doctors are reluctant to set one up.

Skipper Rich
Day Dreams - 43' Carver

Passagemaking-Under-Power Mailing List

End of Passagemaking-Under-Power Digest, Vol 58, Issue 7

Denny said, "...No one is going to just walk into my office and walk out
with a script for Morphine or Demerol or Vicodin, or whatever - not in this
lifetime... (denny / k8do)"

My experience has been that both customs agents, and the medical community,
have understood the need for a ship's captain, doing serious offshore
cruising, to be prepared for medical emergencies. I have cleared customs in
many countries and have a firm policy of being absolutely honest about what
drugs we have aboard. We have never had a problem.

In Russia, I was required to take the more serious narcotics (oxycodone,
morphine, the epi-pins, etc) and put them in a cupboard sealed by the
customs agents. At the time though, customs said that I should feel free to
break the seal should there be a medical emergency.

All of this said, it is certainly an issue I worry about. Sooner or later
there will be a country, or an individual, who does not feel we should have
these drugs onboard the ship. I would hate to be in a position where I am
arrested for smuggling, simply because I am honest about the contents of my
medical kit. Then again, it would be much worse to be in a position where
someone on the ship needed care, and I was unable to take care of them.

As to procuring the drugs...

I have no idea how hard this is, other than to say that I have not had a
problem. My sense is that if you have a Doctor who knows your cruising
plans, believes you will only use the drugs in emergency situations, and
there is no doubt about your reasons for wanting the drugs, doors will open.
However, if anything whatsoever feels fishy to your doctor, or the
pharmacist, doors will slam closed.

On the rare occasion I've had to dip into our medical kit, beyond
seasickness pills, and simple bandages, it has always been under a doctor's
direction. I do not feel qualified to make decisions about administering
drugs, and do not want to do anything that might risk harming anyone. In
today's world, thanks to Iridium, it is possible to get a Doctor on the
phone in minutes from virtually anywhere in the world. If I am ever faced
with an emergency, and no way to communicate, then I'll have to make a tough
decision. But, I hope that day never comes.

Ken Williams
Nordhavn 68, Sans Souci