Sampling: Good or Bad?

There is a good article in the USA Today about pharmaceutical sampling with some relevant statistics. The issue at heart here is whether pharmaceutical manufacturers providing free samples to physicians is a good or bad thing.

1. There are no generic samples (generally speaking) so this may drive more brand use than appropriate. [I say generally speaking since both Medco and Express Scripts have tried generic sampling and MedVantx offers a generic sampling automated solution to physicians where the plan pays for the samples.]
2. Doctors may be inclined to start you on a medication because they have a sample rather than pick the best drug for you.
3. The sampled drug may not be covered by your insurance so you may have to pay a lot out-of-pocket or change drugs after the sample supply is used.
4. In general, samples are not tracked appropriately where most physicians could not tell you what patients received what samples.

A few of the facts from the article:

• An estimated $16B in free drug samples were handed out in 2004.
• More than 90% of US physicians receive free samples.
• More than ½ of older patients report getting at least one sample per year.
• In a study, physicians were 3x more likely to prescribe generics to uninsured patients once they lost their sample closet.
• Several studies have shown that more samples go to insured patients than to uninsured patients where cost is a bigger issue.