[Free drug samples for doctors? no, thank you!]

Free samples are an expensive but effective method of targeting customers, with conversions to sales which may peak 90%. Hence, it is not surprising to learn from a paper recently published in JAMA Dermatology, that free drug samples can alter the prescribing habits of physicians with an increasing prescription of branded and branded generic drugs, away from the use of less expensive generic medications. The costs of prescriptions increase as well. Several institutions have banned or sharply restricted drug sampling, in the United States, a similar policy should be adopted in Italy within the National Health Service.