Free Drug Free Drug Samples May End Up Costing The Uninsured

Those free samples patients get from their doctors may be very expensive in the long run, especially for the uninsured, according to a study last fall from Wake Forest University

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – Free drug samples provided to physicians by pharmaceutical companies could actually be costing uninsured patients more in the long run, according to a study done by researchers at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center and colleagues.

The retrospective study looked at the prescribing habits of more than 70 physicians in a university-affiliated internal medicine practice in the months immediately before and after the closing of their drug sample closet. The results indicate that the availability of free samples from pharmaceutical companies greatly impacts whether an uninsured patient is given a prescription for a generic or a brand-name drug.
The complete findings can be found in the September 2008 issue of Southern Medical Journal.

“It’s true that samples can save patients money in the short-run,” said David P. Miller, M.D., lead researcher and internal medicine physician at Wake Forest Baptist. “But our study shows that they may end up paying more in the long run when they are given prescriptions for brand-name only drugs.”

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