"Half measures such as increased regulation and physician education have failed and there is no evidence adding new measures would be of any benefit. It is time to end free drug samples"

http://www.bullhpl.org/resources/Publications/AllenCommentaryBHPL-Prod.pdf

Time to End Free Drug SamplesTimothy Craig Allen, MD, JD. 

Published: 10 January 2013 Cite as: Craig TA. Time To End Free Drug Samples. Bull Health L Policy. 2012;1(2).

"In a free, economically unrestricted, laissez-faire world, free drug samples would be appropriately unregulated. However, in the current, artificial, government-burdened, regulation-laden environment of health care, the carve-out for free drug samples, ostensibly in the name of benefiting needy patients, does not pass ethical muster. Free drug samples have proven themselves to be no different from other forms of pharmaceutical manufacturer marketing.8Numerous studies have shown that the real but meager benefits of free drug samples are overwhelmed by the social costs, including the insidious erosion of patient trust. Half measures such as increased regulation and physician education have failed and there is no evidence adding new measures would be of any benefit. It is time to end free drug samples."