Drug samples given out by doctors continue to be the topic of debate these days. Is it helping low income patients, does it raise the cost of office visits and prescription drugs, does it influence physicians on what drugs they prescribe? There are a lot of unanswered questions out there concerning drug samples. With all these questions, it’s also important to point out that a lot of low income patients in the United States don’t know that help is available. I found a few articles on this topic with some useful tips for consumers on whom they can turn to for help and what they should ask for.

The Web site ReducePrescriptionCosts.com writes that patients should consider asking doctors for a drug sample when starting a new prescription to ensure that the drug in question works for them. This way the patient does not spend money on a full prescription that may or may not work. http://www.clipmarks.com/clipmark/249F14D6-9BB2-4257-87F6-5CAC5E570832/

Lea Barton posted an article on ways to obtain free prescription drugs. She says there are two common ways to get these drugs, by asking your doctor and asking the pharmaceutical company. Doctors receive countless free drug samples for distribution; the only thing most patients need to do is ask their doctor for the samples. An alternative, lesser known option is participating in a pharmaceutical company’s drug program directly. In 2006, drug companies gave away more than 3.3 billion dollars worth of drugs to millions of patients. You can find more information on these programs at NeedyMeds.com. Barton’s article can be found here:
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/148216/free_prescription_drugs_all_you_have.html?cat=71.

The author of the Mom’s Budget blog posted some tips to remember when accepting free prescription drug samples from a doctor. She suggests that you ask your doctor for the literature that comes with the drug, ask your doctor if the sample drug will conflict with any of the drugs you’re currently taken, and do you own research online. Her full blog post can be found at http://www.momsbudget.com/health/prescriptiondrugsamples.html.