An article in USA today talks about how free samples given to doctors by pharma representatives most often go to rich insured patients instead of poor uninsured patients. Why should that be so surprising? How many poor uninsured patients actually visit doctors? Or at least the doctors in clinics that get frequented by drug reps ? Anyway, it seems that only 28% of poor people leave the doctor's office with free drug samples. For the purpose of this study poor was defined as an annual income of less than $18,400 for a family of four.
A more interesting problem discussed in the article and one I too have seen in a free clinic is : once the patient is hooked onto/ dependent on the expensive drugs, who really can guarantee a continuous supply of the same ? Most times, even if the drug is a miracle cure and just what the patient needed (an objective which itself is hard to achieve) - the doctor is forced to sooner or later (when supplies run out) change the prescription to a more economical or sometimes an older generation drug. Doctors working at free clinics for the poor/uninsured need continuous updates that would help them make wiser choices for their patients.
This study, says a professor from the University of Wisconsin, "debunks" the theory that stopping the supply of free samples will hurt the uninsured.
No comments:
Post a Comment