Background: Many physicians dispense drug samples in their offices, but this practice may
not benefit patients. We analyzed the novelty and usefulness of the medications most …

Introduction: Samples are widely used in office practice. It is not known how many sample
medications are expired and therefore not useful to patients. Methods: We inventoried 10 …

Introduction: We determined whether family physicians (FPs) who distribute free sample
medications are more likely to prescribe those medications than physicians who do not …

Objective To describe the management and distribution of drug samples in family medicine
teaching units (FMUs). Design Cross-sectional descriptive study. Setting All 16 FMUs …

OBJECTIVE: Pharmaceutical companies often use drug samples as a marketing strategy in
the ambulatory care setting. Little is known about how the availability of drug samples affects …

Background The pharmaceutical industry spends billions of dollars annually to encourage
clinicians to prescribe their medications. Small studies have demonstrated that one of the …

The University of Wisconsin Hospital, the largest health care provider in Madison, has
instituted a voucher program to replace free samples from drug companies. Samples have …

Background. The distribution of sample medications to physicians by pharmaceutical
manufacturers has been regulated by Congress and extensively critiqued in the medical …

Objective To determine whether drug samples are associated with physicians prescribing
fewer generic, less costly medications. Methods We conducted a retrospective study at a …

Objective To draw a portrait of drug sample distribution and to assess the concordance
between drug samples distributed and the medical problems encountered in the ambulatory …