{"id":631434,"date":"2025-03-06T09:30:45","date_gmt":"2025-03-06T14:30:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.singlecare.com\/blog\/?p=631434"},"modified":"2026-02-20T08:52:20","modified_gmt":"2026-02-20T13:52:20","slug":"can-pharmacists-provide-drug-samples","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.singlecare.com\/blog\/can-pharmacists-provide-drug-samples\/","title":{"rendered":"Can pharmacists provide drug samples?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Drug samples are small amounts of medications that drug manufacturers provide directly to physicians and other prescribers. According to the Wisconsin Department of Health Services, drug samples are typically used as either starter supplies when a patient begins a new treatment or for patients who have difficulty affording medications. They can allow patients to try new prescriptions before they commit to taking them long-term.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">While samples have historically only been provided to physicians, you might wonder if there are any opportunities for pharmacists to obtain and dispense drug samples. Retail pharmacists cannot give out samples, but there is one type of pharmacist who may.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2 id=\"what-are-drug-samples\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">What are drug samples?<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Drug samples are <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/joppp.biomedcentral.com\/articles\/10.1186\/s40545-022-00479-z\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">free trial medications<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> that pharmaceutical manufacturers provide to physicians and other prescribers. There are many reasons why healthcare providers find it beneficial to accept samples, including:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Reducing costs for patients<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Evaluating the effectiveness of a new medication<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Demonstrating proper use<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Initiating prompt therapy<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Improving patient convenience and compliance<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Treating short-term conditions<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Nevertheless, it\u2019s well known that samples are an important marketing tool for manufacturers. In fact, pharmaceutical sales representatives often use samples to gain access to prescribers, as samples have been shown to increase the likelihood of a prescription by 81% among new doctors, according to the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tandfonline.com\/journals\/jppp20\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Journal of Pharmaceutical Policy and Practice<\/span><\/i><\/a><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">There are many specialties that use samples, including <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.singlecare.com\/blog\/the-benefits-of-dermatology\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">dermatology<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, pulmonology, <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.singlecare.com\/blog\/tag\/mental-health\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">psychiatry<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, endocrinology, and cardiology.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2 id=\"how-do-healthcare-providers-get-samples\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">How do healthcare providers get samples?<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In most cases, local sales representatives from the drug manufacturer provide samples directly to medical offices. Healthcare professionals may also request samples on the manufacturer\u2019s website. During the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.skadden.com\/insights\/publications\/2020\/06\/fda-issues-guidance-on-prescription-drug-sample\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">COVID-19 pandemic<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, the FDA temporarily loosened restrictions on drug samples. Because of reduced in-person contact, they allowed drug manufacturers to ship drug samples directly to patients.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2 id=\"what-are-the-risks-of-using-samples\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">What are the risks of using samples?<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The use of samples has been widely debated among healthcare providers because there are a number of potential risks, according to the <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Journal of Pharmaceutical Policy and Practice<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, such as:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Compromised patient safety <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">because adverse effects of drug samples are not consistently tracked, and samples are often stored improperly with different routes of administration mixed together (which could <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/books\/NBK20460\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">lead to dispensing errors<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">)<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Increased patient costs <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">once samples run out<\/span><b>, <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">as brand-name samples are usually for expensive, chronic drugs<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Treatment interruptions, <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">if patients cannot afford the drug after samples run out<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Due to these risks, many health institutions, such as Stanford University Medical School and the University of Michigan, have banned the use of drug samples. However, the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/journalofethics.ama-assn.org\/article\/ama-code-medical-ethics-opinions-physicians-relationships-drug-companies-and-duty-assist-containing\/2014-04\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">American Medical Association<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> still considers the dispensing of drug samples acceptable. Ultimately, it\u2019s at the discretion of each prescriber whether they will accept and distribute samples or not.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2 id=\"can-pharmacists-provide-drug-samples\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Can pharmacists provide drug samples?<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Usually, no. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) only allows licensed practitioners with prescribing rights to distribute drug samples. This means pharmacists at a retail pharmacy aren\u2019t authorized to store or give out samples.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ecfr.gov\/current\/title-21\/chapter-I\/subchapter-C\/part-203\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Prescription Drug Marketing Act (PDMA)<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> regulates drug samples. Under the PDMA, a drug sample can be provided to a patient by:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A practitioner licensed to prescribe the drug<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A healthcare professional acting at the discretion and under the supervision of a practitioner<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The pharmacy of a hospital or of another health care setting that is acting at the discretion of a practitioner and that received the sample legally<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">While this means drug samples are generally only given and distributed by licensed practitioners with prescribing authority, there may be certain situations where a pharmacist can provide samples. For instance, hospital pharmacists can give out samples at the discretion of a practitioner if they were legally provided to and stored at a hospital pharmacy. Also, pharmacists with prescribing rights may be able to provide samples if it\u2019s allowed under their collaborative practice agreement (CPA). However, these agreements are usually in place in <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.singlecare.com\/blog\/ambulatory-care-pharmacist\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">ambulatory settings<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, not retail pharmacies.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h2 id=\"bottom-line\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Bottom line<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Drug samples are medications that drug manufacturers usually provide directly to physicians or other prescribers. In most cases, pharmacists aren\u2019t authorized to obtain or provide drug samples. This means patients wouldn\u2019t be able to obtain drug samples from pharmacists at a retail pharmacy.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Drug samples are small amounts of medications that drug manufacturers provide directly to physicians and other prescribers. According to the Wisconsin Department of Health Services, drug samples are typically used as either starter supplies when a patient begins a new treatment or for patients who have difficulty affording medications. They can allow patients to try [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":135,"featured_media":631373,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9340],"tags":[743],"coauthors":[20969],"class_list":["post-631434","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-checkout","tag-pharmacies","wpautop"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.4 (Yoast SEO v27.4) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Can pharmacists provide drug samples?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Pharmacists may provide drug samples in specific circumstances, often in partnership with doctors. 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