The drug industry often claims that the free samples of prescription drugs they give to doctors help the uninsured or those with low incomes. But - no big surprise - a study published in the American Journal of Public Health shows those people are the least likely to get the freebies.
A Reuters story quotes co-author Dr. Sara Cutrona: "Our findings suggest the free samples serve as a marketing tool, not a safety net." Other excerpts from that story:
"About $16.4 billion in drug samples were given out in the United States in 2004, up from $4.9 billion in 1996, the study said. Distributed by sales representatives, samples are nearly always the newest, most expensive drugs, the report said.Critics have said that in addition to steering doctors and patients to pricey drugs, samples can lead to medications being used for conditions they were not intended to treat.
Drugmakers are forbidden from recommending drugs for uses for which they have not been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, but doctors can prescribe drugs for any use.
The now-recalled painkiller Vioxx, made by Merck & Co, was the most frequently distributed free drug sample in 2002, the study found.
Vioxx was often prescribed beyond its approved uses before it was withdrawn from the marketplace because of a link to an increased rate of heart attacks and death."