Big PhARMA bribery – free meds get patients hooked

Perhaps not physically, or even psychologically in a narrow sense, but certainly sociologically, if you will.

On average, patients who got free prescription samples spent nearly 40 percent more for medication during the six months they received samples, and nearly 20 percent more in the six months afterward, than those who didn’t, according to University of Chicago researchers.

Big PhARMA, of course, is already on the attack:

Looking at samples in isolation “misses the point,” Senior Vice President Ken Johnson said. “Contrary to statements made by critics, American’s physicians prescribe medicines based on a wide range of factors, not simply receipt of free prescription drug samples,” he wrote.

No, they also do it based on receipt of free clipboards, free notebads, free coffee mugs, etc.