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Can pharmacists provide drug samples?

In most cases, only prescribing physicians can offer samples, but in certain settings, pharmacists may offer them
By | Mar. 6, 2025
Pharmacist next to medications - Can pharmacists provide drug samples

Key takeaways

  • Samples are medications that drug manufacturers provide directly to physicians or other prescribers.

  • Drug samples are typically used as either starter supplies when a patient begins a new treatment or for patients who have difficulty affording medications.

  • Samples have some potential risks, such as increased overall prescription costs, interruptions in treatment, and compromised patient safety.

  • Only licensed healthcare professionals with prescribing authority can provide samples. In most cases, pharmacists cannot.

In this article:

Drug samples are small amounts of medications that drug manufacturers provide directly to physicians and other prescribers. According to the Wisconsin Department of Health Services, drug samples are typically used as either starter supplies when a patient begins a new treatment or for patients who have difficulty affording medications. They can allow patients to try new prescriptions before they commit to taking them long-term.

While samples have historically only been provided to physicians, you might wonder if there are any opportunities for pharmacists to obtain and dispense drug samples. Retail pharmacists cannot give out samples, but there is one type of pharmacist who may.

What are drug samples?

Drug samples are free trial medications that pharmaceutical manufacturers provide to physicians and other prescribers. There are many reasons why healthcare providers find it beneficial to accept samples, including:

  • Reducing costs for patients
  • Evaluating the effectiveness of a new medication
  • Demonstrating proper use
  • Initiating prompt therapy
  • Improving patient convenience and compliance
  • Treating short-term conditions

Nevertheless, it’s well known that samples are an important marketing tool for manufacturers. In fact, pharmaceutical sales representatives often use samples to gain access to prescribers, as samples have been shown to increase the likelihood of a prescription by 81% among new doctors, according to the Journal of Pharmaceutical Policy and Practice.

There are many specialties that use samples, including dermatology, pulmonology, psychiatry, endocrinology, and cardiology.

How do healthcare providers get samples?

In most cases, local sales representatives from the drug manufacturer provide samples directly to medical offices. Healthcare professionals may also request samples on the manufacturer’s website. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the FDA temporarily loosened restrictions on drug samples. Because of reduced in-person contact, they allowed drug manufacturers to ship drug samples directly to patients.

What are the risks of using samples?

The use of samples has been widely debated among healthcare providers because there are a number of potential risks, according to the Journal of Pharmaceutical Policy and Practice, such as:

  • Compromised patient safety because adverse effects of drug samples are not consistently tracked, and samples are often stored improperly with different routes of administration mixed together (which could lead to dispensing errors)
  • Increased patient costs once samples run out, as brand-name samples are usually for expensive, chronic drugs
  • Treatment interruptions, if patients cannot afford the drug after samples run out

Due to these risks, many health institutions, such as Stanford University Medical School and the University of Michigan, have banned the use of drug samples. However, the American Medical Association still considers the dispensing of drug samples acceptable. Ultimately, it’s at the discretion of each prescriber whether they will accept and distribute samples or not.

Can pharmacists provide drug samples?

Usually, no. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) only allows licensed practitioners with prescribing rights to distribute drug samples. This means pharmacists at a retail pharmacy aren’t authorized to store or give out samples.

The Prescription Drug Marketing Act (PDMA) regulates drug samples. Under the PDMA, a drug sample can be provided to a patient by:

  • A practitioner licensed to prescribe the drug
  • A healthcare professional acting at the discretion and under the supervision of a practitioner
  • The pharmacy of a hospital or of another health care setting that is acting at the discretion of a practitioner and that received the sample legally

While this means drug samples are generally only given and distributed by licensed practitioners with prescribing authority, there may be certain situations where a pharmacist can provide samples. For instance, hospital pharmacists can give out samples at the discretion of a practitioner if they were legally provided to and stored at a hospital pharmacy. Also, pharmacists with prescribing rights may be able to provide samples if it’s allowed under their collaborative practice agreement (CPA). However, these agreements are usually in place in ambulatory settings, not retail pharmacies. 

Bottom line

Drug samples are medications that drug manufacturers usually provide directly to physicians or other prescribers. In most cases, pharmacists aren’t authorized to obtain or provide drug samples. This means patients wouldn’t be able to obtain drug samples from pharmacists at a retail pharmacy.