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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