CMS Treatment Of Generic Samples Offers False Hope

It’s interesting but irrelevant that CMS is now proposing that Part D plans can treat generic samples similar to OTC drugs.  Who cares?

Why do I say that?

1. Generics represent more that 80% of the non-specialty drugs dispensed in many cases.
2. The technique doesn’t work.

At Express Scripts, I ran a program for a year.  We hired pharmaceutical representatives to detail doctors.  We bought generic drugs and repackaged them.  And, we tracked GFR (generic fill rate) in the six categories for a year. 

Guess what?

In most cases, the GFR for the doctors with the samples barely exceeded the GFR for the doctors without the samples.  In one category, it was even lower.  The GFR was going up too fast in the general market.  If you add in the costs, it was a money loser. 

We even compared our GFR in certain geographies to the published statistics from another company doing generic sampling…our clients GFR without samples was going up faster than their GFR with samples. 

If you want to give away free drugs as a “gift” to make your academic detailing program more effective, have at it, but lets keep reality in mind here.  This is not going to make a difference.  All it’s going to do is drive up administrative costs for PDP plans.