When's the last time your MD gave you a generic drug sample?

Don’t hold your breath. It’s not going to happen.

Meantime, in one more way brand name drug makers promote their brand to doctors and patients – they are giving out $3 billion a year of their samples!

Katie Hobson on the Wall Street Journal HealthBlog writes:

To (roughly) put that in the larger context of pharma marketing, the (Congressional Budget Office) CBO reported last year that the drug industry spent “at least $20.5 billion” on other forms of marketing in 2008. Most of that, some $12 billion, not counting the cost of samples, went towards sales rep visits to doctors.

The CBO estimated that the industry also spent $4.7 billion on direct-to-consumer ads, $3.4 billion on event and meeting sponsorships and $400 million on advertising to docs, in journals.

Comments

Deborah Walsh posted on June 7, 2010 at 8:59 am

I know many of us providers grumble at the cost of some of the drugs, when most of the generics are tried and true performers. However, those pesky samples can be a boon for those without insurance.

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