A recent study found patients who receive free drug samples end up paying more out-of-pocket costs for their perscription drugs.
This means, sample users spent about $166 on perscriptions six months before receiving samples, $244 for the six months they received samples, and $212 following the receipt of free drugs, while non-sample users only spent about $178 over the entire six month period.
"This is a curious finding because one would think, intuitively, that if you receive a free sample, one's out-of-pocket prescription cost would be lower, not higher," said lead researcher Dr. G. Caleb Alexander, an assistant professor of medicine at the University of Chicago Medical Center.
The study, which collected data on 5,709 patients, found younger people with private insurance were more likely to receive free samples because sample receivers may tend to be sicker than patients who don't get samples and patients who receive free samples may go on to receive and fill prescriptions for the very same medicine that initially began as free samples.
There are many ways doctors and patients can work together to reduce drug costs, but giving away free samples may not be the best one, because it may end up costing the patient more in the longer-run.
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