Free drug samples at the pediatrician’s office: Just say no

There are sobering safety problems with the most popular drug giveaways that doctors hand out to their young patients, a report from the journal Pediatrics suggests. (See an abstract.)

The greatest potential danger with free drug samples to kids is that there are few safety measures in place to detect abuse, drug interactions, and improper dosing.

Plus, doctors get these free samples from manufacturers to promote newer drugs, which are usually more expensive and have shorter safety records than similar medications that are just as effective but are less costly.

The Food and Drug Administration has attached serious safety warnings on 4 of the 15 most common freebie medicines given to kids (open chart at right, Top 15 drug samples given to children in the U.S., in new window). They include Adderall/Adderall XR (amphetamine/dextroamphetamine), Advair Diskus (fluticasone/salmeterol), Elidel (pimecrolimus), and Strattera (atomoxetine). A fifth drug, Singulair (montelukast), is currently under an FDA safety investigation.

The practice of doling out free medicine to children is widespread. About 1 in every 10 kids in the U.S. already taking a prescription medication was given a free drug sample in 2004, the year of the study. Most samples don't list dosages for kids, or don't have child safety caps. And, since such samples are usually made available for newly approved drugs, giving them away can encourage regular use before post marketing surveillance determines their long-term safety for kids. Besides that, drug samples bypass the pharmacist, who is considered an important safety checkpoint.

Our medical advisers suggest that you be wary of accepting freebies from your child’s pediatrician.

Read the rest of this post on our Health blog. (Also see our Best Buy Drug recommendations for the safest, most effective and least costly treatments for the most common conditions.)