Repudiation of Drug Samples - Essay Sample

Physicians try to ease the cost burden incurred by a patient by offering drug samples. The case that arises afterward is that the patient might not be able to afford the drugs after running out of samples. In addition, drug samples are exempted from mandatory inclusion in a patients medical records. More so, they raise some ethical issues because the samples might not adequately help patients if they do not receive the full dosage which is subject to financial hardships. My inclination is that patients should be given free samples.

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The nursing professional is meant to uphold a healthy community and, therefore, offering free samples espouses this fact. More specifically, the samples provide an allowance of trial before purchasing a drug. This concept goes a long way to prove how a patient responds to a particular drug. In the words of Downey (2008), free samples allow the patient to start treatment promptly avoiding delays which might increase the severity of the disease. As a practicing nurse, I endorse the provision of free samples since it offers an opportunity to gain the much-needed experience when dealing with a particular drug. This experience should not be confused as a test or pilot study of a drug. Pilot studies are done in controlled laboratories, and free samples are fit for consumption.

Offering free samples is ethically right particularly in situations where new drugs are rolled out after a short period. The benefits of drugs sampling herein leverage patients by avoiding wasteful spending (Joseph & Mantrala, 2008). From a legal perspective, the federal anti-kickback statute stipulates a code of conduct detailed in the Compliance Program Guidance for Pharmaceutical Manufacturers. Herein, the primary focus is curbing fraud and abuse of healthcare programs with a selfish need of increasing business. On the positive side, free samples purely aimed at promoting the patient's health and improving public health are not restricted (Downey, 2008). Conclusively, offering free samples is legally sanctioned, and the elimination of free samples might not necessarily reduce drug costs.

From an ethical and professional perspective, human life is precious, and high marketing tactics should not be allowed to override this goal. In this regard, it is not ethically right to limit patients access to drugs under any circumstances. According to Joseph and Mantrala (2008), free samples lower costs allowing more patients access to medical services. At the same time, Downey (2008) notes that patients adherence to drugs is a major problem faced by nurses in the promotion of health. Thus, offering free samples would help reduce this risk of poor adherence.

Physicians who offer free samples can end this impasse by adequately counseling patients. In effect, clear recording of offered free samples can go a long way to resolving accountability and, thereby reducing drug handling problems. Otherwise, banning free samples brings to light the ethical issue of pharmaceutical companies selfishly increasing margins on sold products to recover money for the free samples. According to Downey (2008), hospitals should induce cost-reducing measures to curb any exaggerations from pharmaceutical companies. In conclusion, with proper measures and appropriate physician awareness, benefits that accrue from free drug sampling out do the harms documented by antagonists. For instance, they sustain drug adherence, offer an immediate drug buffer, and make access to medication cheap. However, nurses should first prepare patients well before giving them the free samples.

References

Downey, L. (2008). What Is the Impact of Free Drug Samples on Patients? Southern Medical Journal, 101(9), 879-880. http://dx.doi.org/10.1097/smj.0b013e318180bd18

Joseph, K. & Mantrala, M. (2008). A model of the role of free drug samples in physicians prescription decisions. Marketing Letters, 20(1), 15-29.