PHA-Exch> children and drug samples]

[Claudio Schuftan]

From: Meghana Bahar meghana at haiap.org




 <http://www.nytimes.com/>
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October 6, 2008
Study Says Drug Samples May Endanger Children     excerpts By GARDINER
HARRIS<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/h/gardiner_harris/index.html?inline=nyt-per>

A new study suggests that free drug samples, an effective marketing tool for
the drug industry, do little to help the poor and may put children's health
at risk.

The study, being published Monday in the journal Pediatrics, analyzed an
in-depth survey conducted in 2004 by the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/c/centers_for_disease_control_and_prevention/index.html?inline=nyt-org>that
asked people how they got health care. As part of the survey,
respondents were asked if they received free drug samples. It was found that
children in the lowest income group were no more likely to receive the
samples than were those in the highest income group, in part because the
poor are less likely to see doctors.

Once in a doctor's office, children who lack health
insurance<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/health/diseasesconditionsandhealthtopics/health_insurance_and_managed_care/index.html?inline=nyt-classifier>are
more likely to receive free drug samples than their well-insured
counterparts, the study reported.

But of greater concern, the authors wrote, are the kinds of drug samples
that physicians provide. In 2004, the year of the C.D.C. survey, more than
500,000 children received samples of four medicines that were later the
subject of serious safety warnings required by the Food and Drug
Administration<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/f/food_and_drug_administration/index.html?inline=nyt-org>
.

The drug's label often have a strong warning and a reminder that it was not
approved for use in children under 2.



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