Some physicians and health care providers welcome visits from pharmaceutical salespeople, while other physicians prefer not to directly engage with industry representatives. If you decide to make your practice accessible to salespeople, you probably will be offered product samples. Many drug and biologic
companies provide physicians with free samples that the physicians may give to patients free of charge.
It is legal to give these samples to your patients for free, but it is illegal to sell the samples. The Government has prosecuted physicians for billing Medicare for free samples. Opinions differ on whether sampling practices ultimately increase or decrease patients' long-term drug costs. If you choose to accept samples, you will need reliable systems in place to safely store the samples and ensure that samples are not commingled with your commercial stock.
