Pharm Company Extras

[SuzySunshine]

My understanding is that samples have not been allowed here for many years, the clinic feels there aren't enough regulations on them as far as tracking them and therefore feels they are saving themselves and their employees headaches by trying to answer "where did the drug rep drugs go?" I think more of the ones that are turning away all drug reps are academic institutions, not private practice. Probably not only for these reasons but also for the reasons previously mentioned about the conflict of interests that can arise.

[SuzySunshine]

Lily - I think that is an interesting take on it, but I agree I think there needs to be some more regulation to the marketing, my DH cringes everytime he sees a commercial for a drug (and usually points out 10 things that should have been said and weren't).

ETA: I have a good friend that used to work in R&D for a big pharma and now works in administration, she is amazed at all the regulation, etc. that there really is.

[Stella]

Hey, I love free samples. I got them for my BC (three months! ) and for my GAD meds (1 month!). It was great and saved me a ton of money. Of course, I'm only on the patient side at this point, but I like it.

[Grog]

Aren't samples (and the rest of the marketing buzz that comes with them) part of the reason why drugs are so expensive to begin with?

Thankfully, ads directed to patients are forbidden in Canada. Well, they can advertise either just the brand name or about a disease, but there can't be connection between the two. Alesse (BC, not sure it has the same name in the US) and Viagra are two drugs whose adds are a bit borderline... (I mean, who doesn't know what a 28-pill container is for??). But there is very little of the other stuff I see when I travel to the US...

Note that drugs are usually cheaper here, too. (Prices are regulated.) And the drug companies are not going out of business, they're doing very well, thank you!!

[Sheherezade]

When I was studying patent law (in a former life), we covered the pharma stuff in depth. It was my understanding that drugs remain cheap in places like Canada (where regulated) in part because the costs are shifted to the US market. That's part of the problem with regulating the cost here. If they do, they lose money everywhere. That's what makes allowing drug purchases from Canada for US residents tricky. Somebody has to pay over-price to make up for the losses in other markets.