Could you expound on the drugs that the Pharmaceutical companies stock doctor offices with. I do a lot computer work for doctor offices and noticed that the Pharmaceutical reps keep these offices well stocked on “samples”. I especially notice this at the OB/GYN offices that I work at. Are they really samples? Are the doctors charged for it? Does the doctor charge the patient/insurance company if a patient is given this sample? I’s just curious if doctors would use such a supply to get around Pharmacists objections.
One OB/GYN office not only has a huge closet full, but keeps another bigger back storage full as well. It usually 5-6 times bigger stock than a Family Practitioner keeps.
The samples are free. We have to sign for them and usually give the “drug rep” a chance to tell us why their pills are so great.
We don’t charge for the sample. In fact, Texas has very strict rules about a doctor dispensing medicines (other than injectables) in the office for a fee.
I suppose that the samples could be used to get around the pharmacists’ objections. However, the drug companies wouldn’t make much money if they gave us enough meds to do this often.
Hypothetical: I'm a pharmacists and my dad was a UAW worker in Flint, and the foreign cars put him out of work and destroyed my home town, so I have a moral objection to foreign owned companies competing with US companies. You come in and ask for Beyer asprin because you have a head ache, I don't sell it to you. What's up? Crazy right? Not all that different from what we're talking about.
How about dispensing drugs when the pharmacist thinks it's for an off label use (when the doctor prescribes the drug for a condition for which it's not FDA approved). Can't the pharmacist step in then too? Not his business.
A pharmacist is a licensed professional because the government has decided that the people need a minimum level of quality and availability of services. Part of availability means that if a pharmacist should be expected to be able to do it, every pharmacist knows how, but I don't think anyone fifty years ago, when pharmacy might have been even more technically demanding, ever thought members of the profession would be refusing to sell a particular drug.