Help Your Doctor Break the Sample Habit (Prescription for Change‪)‬

Does your doctor give you drug samples? It's always nice to get something for free. But, medication samples aren't like the free samples you get at the supermarket. If you accept a cube of cheese at a grocery store, you can decide to purchase more if you like it, and walk away if you don't. Evaluating which drug is safe and effective for you isn't as easy a call, which is why a physician is supposed to mediate the process. Physicians (and other prescribers) control access to prescription drugs because they are supposed to know enough to evaluate the choices and make the best decision on behalf of their patients. Drug samples, however, are meant to muddle a doctor's decision-making process in favor of the most aggressively promoted drugs.