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).
Introduction
Pharmaceutical manufacturers are highly regulated, and must meet a plethora of governmental and nongovernmental guidelines and rules, some of which were enacted to address manufacturer improprieties regarding drug sales. Yet pharmaceutical manufacturers continue to use, and indeed increasingly utilize, extreme pharmaceutical marketing tactics that often incorporate deceptive methods or biased information.1 Further, pharmaceutical sales teams are typically an aggressive sort, and have been likened to soldiers going to war, stopping at nothing to prevail.1
Free drug samples are big business. The value of free drug samples dwarfs the value of other pharmaceutical manufacturer gifts to physicians.2 One study found that up to 94% of physicians have some pharmaceutical manufacturer relationship, and between 78-92% receive free drug samples.3 No matter what they are told by pharmaceutical manufacturer sales teams, physicians should clearly understand that “[d]rug samples are gifts from pharmaceutical representatives. Acceptance of the sample establishes an implicit relationship with the gift giver that involves vague but real obligations. Any gift, even those of small monetary value or those that benefit patients, creates a relationship of reciprocity that affects treatment decisions.”3-6 Yet, whereas gifts to physicians have come under increasing scrutiny and control,3 free drug samples have been left relatively unexamined, and only a few academic centers have banned free drug samples altogether.7
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