Prescription Drug Sampling — is the Status quo about to Change?: Some New Sampling Methods Bring Pharmacists into the Picture

Drug sampling plays a key role in the pharmaceutical marketing industry's attempts to reach the “prescribing audience” of health professionals. The traditional mechanism of pharmaceutical sales representatives giving drug samples to the physician as part of a “detailing” appointment is being supplemented by new mechanisms. In light of growing public and private concerns regarding the administration, management, and application of drug samples, the efforts to develop alternative approaches and the willingness of health professionals and pharmaceutical companies to consider these approaches are increasing. Success will depend on the acceptance and adoption of the approach by pharmaceutical manufacturers, physicians, pharmacists, policy-makers, insurers (public and private), regulators, as well as consumers. Given the number of stakeholders involved, it is not surprising that many of the attempts to introduce alternative methods have failed to achieve the critical level of participation necessary to advance these initiatives into an economically sustainable, broadly accepted model.