Health Care Facts: Free Drug Samples

NEW REPORTING REQUIREMENT

The Patient Protection and

Affordable Care Act (ACA)
requires effective April 2010 that
drug manufacturers report to
Congress the annual number of
prescription drug samples they
have given to each practitioner.

The provision is intended to

increase awareness of how the use
of free samples may influence
physicians to write prescriptions According to the Wall Street Journal, major U.S. drug companies
for brand name drugs. reported to Congress that they gave out 240 million drug samples in
2007.1
*Wyeth was acquired by Pfizer in 2009.

BENEFITS OF DRUG SAMPLING?

Proponents of the practice of providing free drug samples maintain that it saves money for the patient,
while also allowing the patient and physician to test a drug for effectiveness and tolerability before the
patient fills a full prescription at the pharmacy.

On the other hand, critics of drug sampling note that, because the free sample practice bypasses the
pharmacy, patients may have an increased safety risk if they are taking a medication prescribed by
another doctor, which may react with the sample drug. Such drug interactions can be caught at the
pharmacy when both prescriptions are filled, but not if one of the drugs is a sample.

In addition, free samples of branded medications may serve as an incentive to practitioners to write
prescriptions for those branded drugs as opposed to generics. A study published in the Southern Journal
of Medicine found that physicians were three times more likely to write prescriptions for generic drugs
for uninsured patients after those clinics ended their free drug sampling program, resulting in a decrease
in cost to those patients. 2

Finally, less than one-third of patients receiving free drug samples have low incomes, according to a
study conducted by Harvard Medical School Researchers.3

Given the varying opinions of the effects of free drug sampling, collecting the data from manufacturers
will be a step toward learning more about the true impact of the practice.

This fact sheet was researched and prepared by Krista Maier on 7/14/10.

Health Care Facts: Drug Sampling Page 1 of 2

National Coalition on Health Care
 References
1
Jared A. Favole, Drug Makers Provide View of Sampling, WALL STREET JOURNAL, June 5, 2010 available at
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704764404575286423798063474.html (last accessed June 2010).
2
David P. Miller, et. al. The Impact of Drug Samples on Prescribing to the Uninsured, 101 S. MED. J. 888-893
(September 2008) available at
http://journals.lww.com/smajournalonline/Fulltext/2008/09000/The_Impact_of_Drug_Samples_on_Prescribing_to_t
he.12.aspx. (last accessed June 2010).
3
Steven Reinberg, Most Free Drug Samples Go to Wealthy and Insured, U.S. NEWS & WORLD REPORT, January 2,
2008 available at http://health.usnews.com/usnews/health/healthday/080102/most-free-drug-samples-go-to-wealthy-
and-insured.htm (last accessed June 2010).

Health Care Facts: Drug Sampling Page 2 of 2

National Coalition on Health Care