Not So Free After All
Free drug samples drive up name-brand drug prescriptions, may cost the uninsured more
Patients may want to re-think the drug samples that their doctors give for free, according to a recent study conducted by the Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center, Winston-Salem, N.C.
Researchers studied the prescribing habits of physicians in a university-affiliated internal medicine practice during the months before and after their sample closet closed. They found that free drug samples, usually name brand drugs, end up costing patients with no insurance more money.
David P. Miller, M.D, an internal physician at Wake Forest Baptist who led the study, says physicians try to save uninsured patients money with samples, but they are more likely to continue with the more expensive name brand drug in the sample instead of switching to a cheaper generic drug.
"It's true that samples can save patients money in the short run," Miller says. "But our study shows that they may end up paying more in the long run when they are given prescriptions for brand-name drugs."
Miller warns patients of becoming too dependent on samples. Free drug samples are not reliable sources for medicine because drug representatives and not physicians control the supply and distribution of drugs, Miller says.
During the study, the practice relocated and their new building provided no physical space for a sample closet. After the sample closet closed, researchers found the rate of generics being prescribed nearly doubled, raising from 12 percent to 30 percent.
"Physicians and medical organizations need to ask themselves if samples are doing more harm than good," Miller says. "While doctors might intend to help someone by handing them a free sample, in the long run, it could cost them more."
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