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(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- The free samples you get from your doctor might be costing you more in the long run.
Researchers who studied the use of free samples among uninsured patients found people were more likely to end up with a prescription for a costly brand name drug, instead of a less expensive generic version.
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The authors explain free samples come from brand name drug representatives who are trying to get doctors to prescribe their medications.
In this study, the investigators found the percentage of generic prescriptions given to uninsured patients in the practice went from 12 percent before doctors stopped handing out free samples to 30 percent after they closed out their free sample closet.
While most doctors have the best of intentions when they hand out free samples to uninsured people, patients are stuck with more expensive prescriptions because doctors tend to prescribe the medication once the free samples run out.
Physicians and medical organizations need to ask themselves if samples are doing more harm than good, study author David P. Miller, M.D., from Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center, was quoted as saying. While doctors might intend to help someone by handing them a free sample, in the long run, it could cost them more. And removing samples from a practice can help doctors focus on which medication is best for a patient, rather than which medication happens to be available for free.
SOURCE: Southern Medical Journal, published online September 5, 2008
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