Articles:
Medicare Beneficiaries and Free Prescription Drug Samples: A National Survey
Journal of General Internal Medicine: 2008 Mar 7
“Conclusions: Accessing free prescription drug samples is prevalent among many categories of beneficiaries, especially among individuals with cost-related medication nonadherence and poor health status. Policies restricting or prohibiting drug sample distribution may adversely impact access to medications among patients in high-risk groups.”
Interactions of doctors with the pharmaceutical industry
Journal of Medical Ethics: 2006 32:559-563
“Most respondents (doctors) thought it proper to accept drug samples (92%)… A third (33%) of the respondents thought that their own decision to prescribe a drug would probably be influenced by accepting drug samples… Respondents who distributed drug samples to patients indicated doing so because of patients’ financial need (94%) and for their convenience (76%) and less so as a result of knowledge of the efficacy of the sample product (63%)…
The Myth and Reality of Drug Samples (PDF)
Harvard Health Law Perspectives 2008
“At least with drug samples, even if it is not the drug companies’ intention, they are easing the burden of prescription drug costs for some people. If the real concern is that samples are not available enough to those with the least access to them, look at connecting drug companies and/or physicians who receive the most samples to clinics and emergency departments. Do not sacrifice the mediocre in want of the perfect…”
