Kaiser Permanente

12/15/2025 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 12/15/2025 11:10

‘Free’ drug samples aren’t really free

As lawmakers debate ways to reduce prescription drug spending, one costly practice often escapes attention: providing drug samples.

Drug companies spend over $41 billion each year marketing to doctors. That includes giving out free samples of their drugs.

Samples may seem helpful, but they come with a price. Research shows they push doctors to prescribe certain drugs that may be pricier than alternatives that are equally safe and effective.

Over time, this raises costs for patients and the U.S. health care system. It can also keep patients from getting better medications.

How common are drug samples?

Pharmaceutical reps visit many multiphysician practices every week.

They come with a sales pitch about why their drug is better - and often offer free samples.

One survey found that nearly half of large primary care practices get these weekly visits.

About 60% of those practices even have closets dedicated to storing free samples.

Drug samples increase drug spending

Drug samples may seem like a way for patients who can't afford their prescriptions to get the medication they need.

But studies show Americans who have low incomes or are uninsured are far less likely to get samples compared to those with higher incomes.

Drug sales representatives give samples because it's an effective marketing strategy, not because it's charitable.

Most doctors think samples don't influence what they prescribe. Studies show they do.

Doctors often prescribe drugs they have samples for - even if another drug is better and more cost effective.

And those "free" samples can cost patients more later.

  • Samples are usually for ongoing health conditions, so they are drugs a patient will take for months or years.
  • Sales reps offer samples for drugs that make the most profit.
  • Once a patient is on a drug and comfortable with it, doctors are often reluctant to switch them, even when there may be an equally effective lower cost drug available.

We have a better approach

At Kaiser Permanente, we have policies that make it difficult for drug sales reps and their samples to enter our hospitals and medical offices.

Instead of relying on marketing, our doctors and pharmacists choose drugs based on safety, quality, and evidence.

Here's how.

  • Our clinical pharmacists review all available research and data on each drug we prescribe.
  • We track how drugs perform over time using our own internal data.
  • Our pharmacy education staff keeps our doctors informed about the safest, most effective drugs.

Our goal is to find the safest, most effective drug that works best for each patient.

This evidence-based approach ensures patients get safe, high-quality care - and it helps keep costs down.

We also often prescribe generic and biosimilar drugs because they work just as well and cost less.

  • Generics are nearly identical to brand-name drugs.
  • Biosimilars are close alternatives to branded biologic drugs.
  • Both generics and biosimilars are just as effective as brand-name drugs.

For example, in 2023, a new biosimilar drug was approved to treat rheumatoid arthritis. It cost 55% less than the brand-name drug. We switched 90% of our members to the biosimilar.

Make drug education and transparency a priority

Other health care organizations and public leaders can learn from our approach to educating doctors about drugs. That's why our pharmacy leaders often share our methods with peers

Policymakers (and doctors) also need better data on how often drug samples are used and what impact they have. With that knowledge, they can create rules that ensure prescribing decisions are based on evidence - not marketing.

Under current law, the Sunshine Act requires drug companies to report payments or transfers of value to doctors and teaching hospitals. But drug samples are exempt from this reporting. They shouldn't be.

Safety and effectiveness should drive prescriptions - not advertising or free samples.

Kaiser Permanente published this content on December 15, 2025, and is solely responsible for the information contained herein. Distributed via Public Technologies (PUBT), unedited and unaltered, on December 15, 2025 at 17:11 UTC. If you believe the information included in the content is inaccurate or outdated and requires editing or removal, please contact us at [email protected]