A few months ago, my fellow interns and I attended a resident education session on the influence of drug companies in medicine. All went more or less predictably until we arrived at the issue of drug sampling. Suddenly, the usual dichotomy between overbearing moralists and business-minded realists reversed itself. Previously dispassionate colleagues accused each other of callous disregard for patient needs. Unexpected advocates for the uninsured emerged, and the more demure of both industry skeptics and supporters had questions: drugs are so expensive now, why not give them to people who can't afford them? Maybe sampling was a rare, exploitable weakness in an industry that strong-arms both patients and doctors.
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