Drug Samples: Risky for Patients

Those free samples you get at the doctor’s office may help your pocketbook, but a new study reveals they may harm your health.

Two researchers, one from Columbia University and one who was the former editor of the New England Journal of Medicine, presented their arguments against free drug samples in an essay released this week.

The investigators say free samples can be dangerous because many low-income patients are given "starter packs" that they cannot afford to refill. This, in turn, leads to discontinuity of treatment. They also say doctors rarely give patients detailed instructions for sample use, and since skilled pharmacists don’t oversee the samples, expiration dates are often overlooked.

The authors also cite research showing that low-income, uninsured patients are less likely to receive free samples than patients with continuous insurance. They say many samples are used by physicians for personal or family use. One study showed nearly half of pharmaceutical sales representatives surveyed reported using samples themselves or giving them to their friends and relatives.

"It is difficult to escape the conclusion that the prime motivation behind the provision of free samples is marketing," say the authors. They call for the medical profession to stop accepting samples and distributing them to patients.

SOURCE: PLoS Medicine, May 11, 2009