• • American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP): Physician Dispensing of Drug Samples
  AAFP Policy Statement 2004 “The American Academy of Family Physicians supports the practice of physicians providing sample medications at no charge to patients based on physician discretion. The AAFP further encourages its members to consider the cost effectiveness of any sample provided.”
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• • Interactions of doctors with the pharmaceutical industry (accepting free drug samples)
  Journal of Medical Ethics: 2006 32:559-563 “Most respondents (doctors) thought it proper to accept drug samples (92%)… A third (33%) of the respondents thought that their own decision to prescribe a drug would probably be influenced by accepting drug samples… Respondents who distributed drug samples to patients indicated doing so because of patients’ financial need (94%) and for their convenience (76%) and less so as a result of knowledge of the efficacy of the sample product (63%)…
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• American Osteopathic Association encourages distribution of free drug samples (PDF)
  American Osteopathic Association 2007 “WHEREAS, free samples of prescription drugs help patients who lack insurance coverage for medications or those who cannot afford medications and also help physicians determine whether a drug is appropriate for a patient before purchasing a prescription; now, therefore, be it RESOLVED, that the American Osteopathic Association encourages the pharmaceutical industry to continue the distribution of drug samples…
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• Collateral Damage: Drug samples under fire
  Eye For Pharma Blog, October 2006 “Drug samples are just the latest focus in the ongoing scrutiny of the industry’s marketing practices. Pharma’s need to anticipate that marketing reform advocates will eventually get their way and have the practice of providing doctors and patients with free samples prohibited. The shame is that although the industry will adapt and find other ways to get its product messages out to physicians, patients in financial need will lose one more avenue to access the drugs they need in a system that increasingly fails to meet their needs.
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• Drug samples and family practice residents
  The Annals of Pharmacotherapy: 1997 Vol. 31 No. 11 “Family practice residents value and use samples, although they are often unaware of the rules governing the labeling of samples... Drug samples play a significant role in residency training.”
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• Free drug samples and the poor
  Dr. Matthew Mintz blog, January 2008 Free drug “samples may actually be more beneficial to the insured and non-poor who can ultimately afford these newer medications, and can be important in filling a gap for those who are between jobs and in the process of getting insurance. The real issue is how to get affordable medications to all people who need them.”
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• Medicare Beneficiaries and Free Prescription Drug Samples: A National Survey
  “Conclusions: Accessing free prescription drug samples is prevalent among many categories of beneficiaries, especially among individuals with cost-related medication nonadherence and poor health status. Policies restricting or prohibiting drug sample distribution may adversely impact access to medications among patients in high-risk groups.”
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• PhRMA Defends Distribution of Pharmaceutical Samples
  Pharmaceutical Research Manufactures Association 2008 “Free pharmaceutical samples can give physicians valuable first-hand experience with new treatment options. And free samples can help patients begin treatment sooner, find the right medicine, and offer and option for those who have difficulty affording their medications.”
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• Reduce Prescription Costs: Prescription Drug Samples
  SavingAdvice.com 2006 “Anytime that you are starting a new prescription medication or changing to a lower costing medication, ask your doctor for samples of the new medication. This is to ensure that you don't spend a lot of money for a full prescription bottle to find out later that the medication doesn't work correctly for you.”
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• The Myth and Reality of Drug Samples (PDF)
  Harvard Health Law Perspectives 2008 “At least with drug samples, even if it is not the drug companies’ intention, they are easing the burden of prescription drug costs for some people. If the real concern is that samples are not available enough to those with the least access to them, look at connecting drug companies and/or physicians who receive the most samples to clinics and emergency departments. Do not sacrifice the mediocre in want of the perfect...”
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• Time to take on the drug samples problem
  Fierce Healthcare, July 2007 “It doesn't seem fair to penalize the poor and struggling middle-income patients who can't afford co-pays just on principle. As a consumer, I'm all for knowing physicians are unbiased, but the reality is that samples bring some pretty effective drugs to patients who wouldn't be able to get them otherwise…”
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• Treat Medication Samples With Respect
  Institute for Safe Medication Practices, Consumer Alert 2007 “A physician may give you samples of a particular medication at the time of your office or clinic visit. Typically, this may done at the start of a new prescription so the physician can see if the medication is effective for your condition and is well tolerated before you purchase a large amount. This is a reasonable idea, particularly if it saves you from having medications available that you can no longer use.”
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• What's wrong with free drug samples?
  MediResources’ Senior’s Health 2007 “handing out free samples has at least one major benefit: it often does save patients money. In the free clinic where I used to practice, for example, the samples - birth control pills, antibiotics, etc. - were lifelines for some of our patients. But more important, I think, is that handing out samples rarely causes harm…
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