She got samples. Just not in time. My two had to take Advair along with a nebulizer when the inhaler wasn’t doing enough.
The story doesn’t tell enough to determine just how many ways this child was failed by adults. Not being able to get a human on the phone but once...she should have gone in person.
Y'know, that's the point. The bureaucracy constantly works to dehumanize the process, because actually dealing with people is expensive, time-consuming, and interferes with the actual work of the bureaucrat - wallpapering the bureaucratic maze. People can not live their lives waiting in line for the next bureaucrat to forward them around the circle - thusly the bureaucracy evades responsibility.
You are right, this kid was failed by many adults. It doesn’t make sense. If the doc knew the kid didn’t have the medicine or couldn’t afford it, the doc could have given them samples months earlier. My kid’s doc did that with medicine that wasn’t covered or was expensive. The pharma reps love to have the Dr’s pass out the samples.