Use of Prescription Drug Samples in the USA: A Descriptive Study with Considerations for Pharmacoepidemiology

Drug Safety : an International Journal of Medical Toxicology and Drug Experience
Christian HamppSimone P Pinheiro

Abstract

Free prescription drug samples provided in physician offices can lead to exposure misclassification in pharmacoepidemiologic studies that rely on pharmacy claims data. We quantified drug-specific sample provision rates based on nationally projected data from a survey of over 3200 US office-based physicians for 1993-2013. Between 2009 and 2013, a total of 44.7 % of newly initiated brand-only sitagliptin but only 3.6 % of generically available metformin therapy was provided as samples. We observed similar discrepancies between newly initiated rosuvastatin and simvastatin, dabigatran and warfarin, atomoxetine and methylphenidate, and between oral antibiotic drugs. During continued therapy, sample use was still present though to a lesser extent (sitagliptin 17.0 %, rosuvastatin 23.9 %), and remained high for some oral contraceptives (norethindrone 55.8 %). Oral contraceptives had the longest average days of sample supply (levonorgestrel, continued use 85.1 days). The average days of supply for all other chronically used study drugs ranged from 13.4 (dabigatran, new use) to 25.3 (exenatide, continued use) per sample provided. From 1993 to 2013, we found pronounced drops in sample provisions over time coinciding with more recent gene...Continue Reading

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Citations

Mar 19, 2016·Pharmacoepidemiology and Drug Safety·Jessica C YoungMichele Jonsson Funk
Jan 26, 2017·Pharmacoepidemiology and Drug Safety·Maria Soledad CepedaYingli Yuan
Oct 19, 2017·Injury Epidemiology·Jennifer L HargroveTil Stürmer
Jul 31, 2019·American Journal of Health-system Pharmacy : AJHP : Official Journal of the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists·Aimon C MirandaJulie B Cooper
May 24, 2017·American Journal of Hypertension·Jennifer L HargroveTil Stürmer
Mar 16, 2019·BMC Medical Research Methodology·Guillermo Prada-RamallalAdolfo Figueiras
Mar 19, 2021·Expert Review of Pharmacoeconomics & Outcomes Research·Emily K Acton, Sean Hennessy

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