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This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) All Versions of this Article: AJPH.2007.114249v1 98/2/284    most recent Submit a response View responses Purchase Article View Shopping Cart Alert me when this article is cited Alert me when eLetters are posted Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via ISI Web of Science (2) Google Scholar Articles by Cutrona, S. L. Articles by Himmelstein, D. U. PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Cutrona, S. L. Articles by Himmelstein, D. U. Related Collections Community Health Health Policy Access to Care

Sarah L. Cutrona, MD, MPH, Steffie Woolhandler, MD, MPH, Karen E. Lasser, MD, MPH, David H. Bor, MD, Danny McCormick, MD, MPH and David U. Himmelstein, MD

All of the authors are with the Department of Medicine, Cambridge Health Alliance, Cambridge, Mass, and the Harvard Medical School, Cambridge.

Correspondence: Requests for reprints should be sent to Sarah L. Cutrona, Department of Medicine, Cambridge Hospital, 1493 Cambridge St, Cambridge, MA 02139 (e-mail: slcutrona{at}gmail.com).

Objectives. Free prescription drug samples are used widely in the United States. We sought to examine characteristics of free drug sample recipients nationwide.

Methods. We analyzed data on 32681 US residents from the 2003 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS), a nationally representative survey.

Results. In 2003, 12% of Americans received at least 1 free sample. A higher proportion of persons who had continuous health insurance received a free sample (12.9%) than did persons who were uninsured for part or all of the year (9.9%; P<.001). The poorest third of respondents were less likely to receive free samples than were those with incomes at 400% of the federal poverty level or higher. After we controlled for demographic factors, we found that neither insurance status nor income were predictors of the receipt of drug samples. Persons who were uninsured all or part of the year were no more likely to receive free samples (odds ratio [OR]=0.98; 95% confidence interval [CI]=0.087, 1.11) than those who were continuously insured.

Conclusions. Poor and uninsured Americans are less likely than wealthy or insured Americans to receive free drug samples. Our findings suggest that free drug samples serve as a marketing tool, not as a safety net.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				W. R. Vincent, A. M. Wiesner, and D. T. Steinke "FREE" PRESCRIPTION DRUG SAMPLES ARE NOT FREE Am J Public Health, August 1, 2008; 98(8): 1348 - 1349. [Full Text] [PDF]

				S. L. Cutrona, S. Woolhandler, K. E. Lasser, D. H. Bor, D. McCormick, and D. U. Himmelstein CUTRONA ET AL. RESPOND Am J Public Health, August 1, 2008; 98(8): 1349 - 1349. [Full Text] [PDF]

				Drug Samples: Marketing Tool or Safety Net? Journal Watch (General), February 14, 2008; 2008(214): 1 - 1. [Full Text]

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