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Week 3 Case Study A. What would you do? What I would do in this particular case would encompass several trains of thought. Would I take large amounts of the sample vitamins home? No, because I would personally feel a sense of greed in taking a large quantity of samples just for the sake of saving money. Would I try a few samples to see how well they worked? Yes, but again, if I really liked the particular brand of vitamin I should be buying my own and not depending on an inconsistent supply of free samples. In fact, the practice of employees themselves taking free samples is quite commonplace. According to the National Center for Biotechnology Information, studies have shown that “nearly half of pharmaceutical representatives surveyed reported using samples themselves or giving them to their friends and relatives. These studies indicate that samples often reach the wrong people and are frequently misused.” (Chimonas, Kassirer, 2009). B. Is your action legal? Why or why not? If I were to take a few samples home to try that would be a legal action because the item is a free sample, which means it is intended to be given away at no charge and it is also important to note that the vitamins are nonprescription. If I were to take samples of prescription medication or even prescription vitamins without an actual doctor’s prescription, in that case I would be performing an illegal activity. C. Is your action ethical? Why or why not? The concept of an action being ethical is open to personal interpretation. Everyone has their own concept of what is right and wrong and often we find ways to justify how to make a particular action justifiable. Or moral compass is set by a variety of things to include our upbringing, religious affiliation and environmental influences. I personally think that if the entire staff took every last vitamin for themselves then they would be on the wrong end of the ethics scale. The pharmaceutical salesperson stated that they were meant to be given to patients on limited income, but that also poses a dilemma, because if the patients cannot afford to buy the vitamins under normal circumstances, then the free samples are only serving as a temporary handout and will not be bought by the patients unless they can find a way to bring in more income. I ultimately side with the thoughts of doctors like Dr. Ly Le Tran who says, in addition to assisting low-income patients, “dispensing free drug samples provide the opportunity for patients and doctors to evaluate tolerance and preference prior to spending money on a costly treatment.”(Tran, 2014). D. Does your physician/employer have any responsibility for the dispensing of these free nonprescription vitamins? Explain your answer. I believe the physician does carry a certain level of responsibility because the physician will be the person approving the receipt of the samples and should be aware that every medication, even vitamins has the potential to trigger adverse effects or interactions with other medications. E. What precautions should be taken when storing nonprescription drugs? Nonprescription, as well as prescription drugs should be stored in a safe place, such as a storage closet or drawers, with the ability to be locked away. Most medical facilities are going to have an office manager who should have access to the storage areas, and be the person to help track, not necessarily police, the products being given to patients or taken by the staff. References: Chimonas, S., Kassirer, P. (2009, May 12). PloS Medicine. No More Free Drug Samples. Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2669216/ Tran, L. (2014, April). American Medical Association Journal of Ethics. Drug Samples: Why Not? Retrieved from http://virtualmentor.ama-assn.org/2014/04/ecas2-1404.html