Free prescription samples are popular with doctors who want to try new drugs, and the pharmaceutical industry contends that such samples also help the low income and the uninsured.
But the study of prescription use of nearly 33,000 U.S. residents during 2003 found the neediest are least likely to get free samples.
‘Our findings suggest the free samples serve as a marketing tool, not a safety net,’ said Dr. Sarah Cutrona, co-author of the report to be published in the February issue of the American Journal of Public Health.” (Yahoo! News)
My practice group and I have a policy of taking no free samples (indeed, not accepting visits from pharmaceutical representatives). From time to time I have toyed with the idea of receiving samples and creating a stockpile expressly for the indigent, but it still serves the interests of Big Pharma, facilitating the creation of a new customer they hope will remain a captive audience when their physician can no longer provide the medication for free. And, because samples are of the latest greatest medications, they are also the most expensive. We do a service for our patients when we resist the hype about the newest drugs, which are usually no better than old standby agents available generically or at least priced much more reasonably. This is true regardless of the patient’s prescription drug insurance or their ability to afford expensive medications.
Your responsibility as a patient is to question your prescriber’s reasoning in prescribing the latest and greatest rather than an old standby. S/he ought to be able to explain convincingly why the newer (more expensive) medication is worth the extra cost; otherwise, tell them the responsible thing to do would be to prescribe the medication that is less profitable for the manufacturer.
