Free Drug Samples are not Free

A medical clinic in Seattle was looking for ways to cut prescription costs and to do so, decided to stop allowing free drug samples from being distributed at their clinic.

Does that make any sense? If they’re trying to cut costs why are they cutting out the free drug samples?

The clinic began to realize that having a system where prescribing is influenced by sales representatives of drug companies is not in the best interest for their patients or their budget.

And how about those free samples? How free are they?
The article mentions that, according to the American Medical Association, in 1998 the pharmaceutical industry spent a whopping $5.7 billion promoting drugs to doctors through their sales representatives and via free samples.

Where does the $5.7 billion come from? According to the article, the drug companies make that money back via the high cost of drugs. After studying the system, the clinic decided to eliminate its free samples and told drug reps to “take a hike.”

According to the article, the clinic is getting national attention for its new policy. Other doctors are beginning to question how much “free” drug samples really cost.

While this is a medically based article, it provides an example of methods that health care providers can incorporate in order to reduce costs for themselves and their patients.

Drug companies are in business to make money. The less drugs they sell, the less money they make.

Here is the best part. For those of you that don’t take drugs, just think about how much money you are saving. Maybe you should go out and buy yourself a healthy gift as a reward. Have a fantastic day!

Komo TV: There’s No Such Thing As A Free Prescription Drug Sample